All This And Olympus Too
by NeferNeferNefer
Summary: How does one start living their 'happily ever after', especially with intervening deities, hordes of obsessive fangirls and just that mundane, everyday mayhem, that some people refer to as life? Meg and Hercules are about to find out.
1. Of Great Men and Love Proclamations

**All This And Olympus Too**

 _"And the heart is hard to translate_  
 _It has a language of it's own_  
 _It talks in tongues and quiet sighs_  
 _And prayers and proclamations in the grand days_  
 _Of great men and the smallest of gestures_  
 _In short shallow gasps."_

 _All This And Heaven Too_ by Florence + the Machine

Hercules sighed as he closed the door of his villa. Even though he had been away only for the beginning of the afternoon, it sure did feel like a longer time. He had never experienced the same kind of mayhem he had witnessed in this press conference (and that was quite telling in itself, considering he was a hero who had witnessed all kinds of monster attacks and battlegrounds): everybody tried their best to get his attention and the reason why? Mostly they were not interested in how the ending of the world had been averted, BUT they wanted to know all about the mysterious woman he had been seen with. Hercules was more than happy to share his newly-found love, but on the other hand he also knew, that he wasn't eloquent enough to put it into words how much his beloved meant to him, at least not in a way, that these scoop hungry writers wouldn't twist it around and make it sound like something entirely else.

So honestly he was feeling quite beat when he finally arrived back to his villa.

"Another day at the office, huh?" Meg leaned against a nearby column and gave him a sympathetic look. Her hair was down and as she came closer, he noticed that it was still partly wet: she had obviously taken a bath while he was away. Also, she wasn't wearing her signature lavender-colored chiton anymore, but had a pale blue fabric intricately wrapped around her as a dress. Hercules could only guess that it had originally been a bed sheet, but how she had turned it into a dress and even more so, how she could make it look so good, was a complete mystery to him.

"You could say that again," Hercules replied, pulling her closer to him. Without a second thought, he kissed her and she hummed against his mouth as her eyes fluttered close. A spark of desire was ignited inside of him as he felt her body pressing against him and the over-powering smell of _her_ filled his nostrils. Never before had he experienced anything like this: he had seen plenty of both beautiful mortals as well as goddesses, but never had any of them had the same effect over him as Meg had. He had to fight against the urge to carry her into the bedroom or better yet, just make love to her right there without caring who might interrupt them.

"Hey there," Meg smiled coyly at him after they pulled away from the kiss.

"Hi. Gods, I missed you," he sighed.

"You do know that you were only gone for a couple of hours, right?" Meg replied playfully.

"Seriously felt like a longer time. I swear that time must have stood still or something. You've got your hair down. It looks really pretty," he continued as he admired her, gently running his fingers in her hair.

"Yeah, I took a bath and needed to find something else to wear. I felt that I still reeked of the Underworld," Meg shuddered at the thought.

"I noticed. I mean I noticed you took a bath and you'll welcome to do as you please here: it's your home now too," Hercules told her fondly.

"Hmmm. I haven't got a real home for a few years now," Meg pondered aloud and Hercules felt momentary sadness coming over him. He still had hard time grasping what she had exactly experienced while she had to work for Hades.

"Well, you've got one now. And we have to buy some new clothes for you as well, so you don't have walk around dressed in a bed sheet," Hercules gently jabbed at her.

"What, you don't like my fashion statements?" Meg bantered back and Hercules laughed.

"Well, I find it incredible that you look that good wearing just a bed sheet," he truthfully told her.

"You do know that's literally the only thing I'm wearing at the moment?" Meg smirked at him and Hercules felt himself blush. The thoughts from before came back with a renewed intensity.

"Oh Gods," he simply gasped, feeling his own tunic getting uncomfortably tight because of that thought. Meg simply laughed at him.

"Easy Wonderboy, we don't know when Phil is gonna come rushing in," Meg replied to him, more than a little bitter of those times that Phil had walked in while they were trying to spend some time together.

"Actually, Phil took Pegasus and went to visit his mother. They should be gone for the rest of the afternoon," Hercules told her.

"Wow, Phil's mother, huh? That must be quite something. Not sure if I should admire her or be afraid of her. Wait, does that mean what I think it means?" Meg asked him, looking hopeful.

"That we got at least couple of hours for ourselves?" Hercules clarified.

"Yes, that," Meg agreed. She bit her lower lip, looking at him under her long lashes and that was the breaking point for Hercules: he lifted her into his arms all the while kissing her. He carried her into the bedroom (with his haste, he was a little less graceful and he did bump his elbow to a corner or two, but who was there to count) and they spent an afternoon doing what lovers most often do when left alone.

* * *

Phil was in the kitchen, eating a snack by himself when the kid finally showed up. Herc was pretty much always on the good mood, but now he was chipper even on his own standards, which was quite suspicious in itself.

"Hi Phil! So how did it go with your mother?" Hercules greeted him, starting to grab something edible together as well.

"She was being her old charming self. We actually did some flight training for combats on our way back with Pegasus. He could pull the stops more gracefully, so we should practice on that," Phil replied, eating more of his delicious grasswhich*.

"Pegasus could also learn to FLY more gracefully," Meg, who had just entered the kitchen, still arranging something that looked suspiciously much like a bed sheet, quipped.

"Says someone who has fear of flying," Phil retorted back.

"Hey, I'm working on it!" Meg looked at him while still fiddling with her garment.

"I'll help you with that," Hercules offered and he tightened the bindings from behind.

"Thanks, Wonderboy," Meg replied, giving him a light kiss on his lips as a reward. The way Herc's eyes lingered on her told Phil more than enough of what the two of them had been up to while he was a way.

"Oy vay, you two being so sappy it makes me sick," Phil muttered to himself as he continued to eat his dinner.

"Yet it doesn't affect your appetite," Meg pointed out.

"You're threading on a thin ice sister. Speaking of thin, you should get some real clothes," Phil pointed out, trying not to linger too much on the fact that Meg was basically wearing only a thin layer of cotton.

"Herc said the same. Yet it doesn't seem to bother him as much," Meg smirked at her lover.

"Yeah, well, you're officially Herc's girlfriend now so you cannot go prancing around half-naked. Or could you? It could bring us more publicity…" Phil pondered aloud.

"Phil, no!" Herc seemed genuinely shocked and so was Meg, but for other reasons.

"We never talked about that press conference. They were asking questions about _me_?"

"You bet it, sister. They were more interested in you than they were in Herc's heroic deeds of late, considering he just stopped the end of the world from happening. You have to remember, Herc's been the most wanted bachelor in the Grecian world, so him suddenly having a love interest is kind of a big deal," Phil replied to her as he went to clean his dishes. Hercules looked really uncomfortable because of the chosen topics: him being the most wanted bachelor and Meg being a public point of interest.

"I'm not sure if I feel comfortable of being a public figure," Meg grimaced at the thought.

"Well, you can't go to public before we get you some proper clothes. But it's a package deal sister: if you want to be with Herc, you have to accept that his profession makes him a public figure, which makes even his private life a public matter," Phil lightly patted her hand as he walked by her, leaving the kitchen.

Meg bit her lower lip as she considered what Phil had just told her.

"I'm sorry," Hercules cut her racing mind short.

"For what?" Meg asked, genuinely confused.

"I- I should have told you about that press conference. And I'm sorry that I dragged you into this publicity mess…" Hercules looked so guilty that Meg felt bad herself. She was the one who had been working behind his back for his enemy and he was the one feeling guilty over such trivial matters?

"Hey, it's okay: I'm not especially thrilled at the prospect of becoming everybody's point of interest, but Phil's right, it is a package deal. And I'd much rather have the whole package: luckily there's some parts that I don't have to share with others," Meg suggestively whispered to him before kissing him on his mouth.

"Now, let me help you with that dinner so we might get something edible together tonight," Meg moved next to him, helping him to fix something to eat.

* * *

After the dinner, they moved outside to the porch to watch the evening sky and the stars.

Meg was sitting in Hercules' lap, a quilt pulled over their shoulders. She felt happy, content: only a few days before she thought that she would never be able to feel that way. It felt… Strange, to say the least.

"Hmph," Meg had a speculative look on her face as she looked at the sky and then back at Hercules.

"What is it?" Hercules had a smile on his face: by her smirk, he could tell that she was feeling playful.

"No, I just reached a conclusion."

"And that is?"

"Before, I said I like this constellation of you, but now I've reached the conclusion that I do like the real deal even better," Meg whispered to his ear as if telling a great secret to him. Hercules laughed shaking his head.

"Well, that is a relief to know," he told her, pulling her even closer to him. He loved to see this more playful and relaxed side of her. He sighed, enjoying the moment.

Meg too wanted to simply enjoy the moment, but her racing mind kept interfering with that. She still had hard time believing that her Wonderboy would rather choose a mortal life with her on the Earth over the immortal life with his godly parents. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out: "You think you will regret it?"

Hercules seemed stunned as he had been having lighter matters on his mind. "Regret what?"

"Choosing mortal life? Choosing… Me," Meg's voice was quiet as she finished the sentence.

Suddenly Hercules understood. He had been insecure his whole life: he understood Meg's feelings perfectly well. He gently placed his hand on Meg's jaw tilting her face towards him.

"How could I ever regret it? I wished to find where I belong and now I know I belong with you. Not with the gods on mount Olympus or my birth parents, I belong with you," Hercules gently stroke her face, mesmerized by her beauty.

"Your mother Hera, back at Olympus, she said you were willing to risk your life to save me. I never asked you but… How did you… How did you get my soul back?" Meg asked, her brows knitting together as she contemplated the thought aloud.

"I went to the Underworld. I made a deal with Hades: my soul for yours. He thought I wouldn't be able to make it as a mortal, so he agreed. He thought he could trap us both to the River Styx," Hercules sighed.

"You swam in the river Styx in order to get my soul back?" Meg looked at him dumbfounded.

"Yes."

"How did you know that would work?"

"I didn't. I just knew that I couldn't live in a world that didn't have you in it. I just couldn't," Hercules replied.

Meg threw her hands around him and kissed him deeply. Hercules eagerly kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her. He felt yet again that feeling arousing in him: the hunger to kiss her more, to explore her body, to love her in every way possible.

As Meg pulled away, Hercules noticed tears in her eyes, and brushed them away gently with his hands.

"What's wrong?" He furrowed his brow in concern.

"Nothing is wrong, I'm just so… Happy. I was concerned that you were starting to regret the decision of choosing me and mortal life," Meg whispered. He gently tilted her head so she was looking at him.

"When I was a kid and I learned about my biological parents, I always thought that I would feel complete, that I would be happy, when I had earned back my place at mount Olympus. There was always like this nagging voice telling me that I didn't belong. But later on I realized, that it wasn't a place, or status as a god or even my family that would bring me happiness. Being with you fills me with happiness, Meg. I feel complete when I'm with you, that I won't have to struggle to be anything else that I am," Hercules wasn't the type to give elaborate explanations, but for once, he felt like he needed at least to try to give one.

"So, now I know that my place isn't on mount Olympus, my place is with you, wherever may that be. In river Styx, on Earth, wherever. I love you, Meg," he sighed, still struggling to put into words how much she really meant to him. Meg remained silent for a few moments, obviously considering his words.

"I love you too," Meg replied quietly. It took a moment for her words to register into Hercules' brain. He looked down at Meg, still pressed against his chest and looking uncharacteristically timid.

"You know, you said moment ago that you love me. So, so now you know. That I love you too," Meg's voice was quiet, but sincere. Hercules still wasn't sure what she had experienced in the past, but he could see that telling him that she loved him was a real struggle for her. And that made him appreciate it even more.

He smiled at her warmly and pulled her in for another kiss. She sighed quietly against his mouth. How could he tell her how much he truly loved her? He would try his best to prove his love for her every day they were together: they had time.

When they pulled back from the kiss, she placed her head again against his chest and he let his hand run through her hair, still savoring the softness of her auburn hair.

"I'm the luckiest man there is to have you in my life, you know?" He gently whispered to her ear.

"I thought it was the other way around," Meg replied to him with a smile, her eyes starting to droop from the weariness she was feeling.

"Believe me: I am the lucky one," Hercules quietly whispered to her ear.

It was getting chilly outside: he placed another kiss on the top of her head and gathered her in his arms, carrying her back inside and into the bed.

* * *

*sandwich made of grass. Awesome pun, isn't it? It was really late at night when I was writing this and that one episode of Hercules the TV Series came to my mind where Phil is eating that cake made of grass and soil. So yeah, couldn't resist this little pun.

A/N: It's finally here, let's throw some confetti! Yay! And in my mind, this is direct continuation to my other fic, _For the Gods Have Fashioned Us For Love_. So this will be my multi-chaptered fanfic and I do plan to make our old pals Hades, Icarus and Cassandra among the others appear in this fic.


	2. Of Kings And Things from the Past

**Second Chapter: Of Kings And Things from the Past**

 _"Sleep don't visit, so I choke on sun  
And the days blur into one  
And the backs of my eyes hum with things I've never done_

 _Sheets are swaying from an old clothesline  
Like a row of captured ghosts over old dead grass  
Was never much but we made the most  
Welcome home."_

 _Welcome Home_ by Radical Face

There was a giant running free near the suburbs of Thebes. Hercules, ever the vigilant hero, went to face the monster (which turned out not to be as terrifying as it sounded, because the giant was named Athos and he was more or less short-sighted and had lost his sense of direction).

Phil was giving Herc some feedback on his performance when the two of them were approached by a man. He introduced himself as the envoy of the king Creon of Thebes.

"Mighty Hercules, the king wishes to speak with you," the envoy bowed his head and handed out a scroll. Hercules eyed the scroll and indeed, it seemed that the king wanted to meet him. Immediately.

"Uh, well, I'll stop by before heading back home," Hercules replied, feeling uneasy of such a request. Hercules and Phil took off with Pegasus, but Hercules was still left pondering what could the king of Thebes want of him. He had a feeling that this wasn't a mere social visit.

"Jeez Phil, what could the king himself possibly want with me?" Hercules asked from his mentor as they were traveling towards the castle.

"Dunno kid, don't suppose he's the kind who would only summon you to say his thanks. After all, you did save his city-state time after time," Phil contemplated aloud. So Phil too had the gut-feeling that there was something more to this matter.

"Yeah…" Hercules muttered back, still feeling more or less uneasy.

After arriving to the closely guarded palace of Cadmea, they left Pegasus to the royal stables and headed to the throne room, where the king already waited for them. Hercules quickly glanced at the man before kneeling at him. The king was a strongly-built middle-aged man with black hair and beard highlighted with white streaks. His features looked noble, yet the worries he had faced had left its marks on his once handsome face.

"Young hero, so glad you could make it!" the king stood up, moving closer to Hercules.

"Up, up, no need to kneel before me, you're the son of Zeus, after all," the king jovially jabbed and Hercules let out an awkward laugh.

"Yeah… This is Philoctetes, my trainer," Hercules tried to introduce his mentor to the king.

"How nice," the king quickly glanced at the satyr and then turned his focus back to Hercules again. Phil looked quite pissed to be ignored by the king and Hercules gave him a quick, apologizing look.

"So, first of all, I want to thank you for saving my city-state," the king told him, placing his hand on Herc's shoulder.

"Multiple times," Phil muttered under his breath.

"No, no problem," Hercules smiled back, still feeling antsy.

"You will help with re-building the city?" the king asked of him and Hercules was taken aback.

"Sure, I'll help with anything I can. I mean, helping people is kind of my thing," Hercules replied, wondering why this was something the king wanted to speak with him personally.

"Excellent, excellent! I knew I could count on you," the king smiled, but Hercules had the feeling that he still had something else on his mind.

"While you're out there, could you keep yours ears open? There have been some rumors concerning mutiny, people wanting to rebel against _me_ , their rightful king. I want to know who is the mastermind behind this plot," the king's face was suddenly clouded with anger and Hercules got the feeling that he was not the right man to be angered.

"This is the first time I've heard of it. But sure, I'll try to find some information, if possible," Hercules told him honestly.

"Good, that's all I ask of you. You may go now," the king waved his hand, seemingly losing his interest in his guests. Hercules bowed his head quickly and headed out with Phil. He could not shake the feeling that he had been just commissioned to spy for the king. Even more so, there was something familiar in the king's features, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

* * *

After making their way back to his villa, Hercules met Meg in the atrium. She had washed her lavender chiton and was wearing it once again. Hercules momentarily pondered on the fact that they should buy her more dresses to wear, but not that day: he was feeling beat. After his more or less strange day, he was more than ready to spend a relaxing evening with her.

"You sure took your sweet time out there. Your parents, MORTAL parents, sent us a scroll. They're asking us for a dinner tonight, they're heading back to Arcadia tomorrow," Meg handed him the scroll and gave his cheek a peck.

"Shoot! I forgot about that," Hercules felt bad for forgetting his promise to his adoptive parents: he had promised that he would come and eat a dinner with them and that he would bring Meg with him.

"I figured that out. You're not feeling like it?" Meg arched her perfectly manicured brow as she studied him.

"No, we should do it, I just… Had quite a day," Hercules confessed to her.

"What happened?" Meg placed a comforting hand on his bicep.

"After the fight with the giant, I was summoned to Cadmea. I mean, the royal palace," Hercules started to explain.

"You met king Creon?" Meg looked as confused as Hercules felt.

"Yeah, he kind of asked me to spy for him? There's obviously rumors circling around that people are plotting to rise against him," Hercules elaborated and Phil, who had just entered the room, snorted.

"He wants you do that for him? Why you?" Meg asked incredulously.

"Hmph, wonder why? He's just used to ordering people around as he pleases. The guy may be the king, but he was a total douche nevertheless," Phil propped himself down to the divan, starting to read that day's copy of _Greekly World News_.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? If his people really are rising against him, he had it coming: he has done lousy job as a king," Meg's lips were tightly pressed together as she obviously pondered on something, almost mournful look on her face.

"You okay?" Hercules felt a bit confused to see the subject affecting Meg so strongly.

"Yeah, sure I am. Shouldn't we go? We shouldn't keep your parents waiting," Meg dodged his question and gave him a reassuring smile. Luckily for her, Hercules dropped the subject.

* * *

By Herc's recommendation, they chose to dine in a lovely tavern at the downtown of Thebes. The food was fresh and excellently cooked and Meg had to admit that Wonderboy had the talent for finding the perfect places to eat, although there were so many places to choose from.

Meg also enjoyed the company, even though she had been quite nervous to meet Herc's mortal parents. It turned out that she had nothing to worry about: as she had anticipated from their first (although brief) meeting, they were down to earth and friendly. They told so many stories from Herc's childhood and the time he was growing up which had Meg laughing with tears in her eyes and poor Herc blushing like crazy.

After they had eaten, they parted ways with the elderly couple. Their work at the farm couldn't wait any longer, so they had to head back to Arcadia the next day. They also invited both Hercules and Meg to visit them. Especially Alcmene seemed to like Meg: she hugged her for a long while and made her promise that she would come to visit them with Hercules.

After Herc's parents had headed back to their inn, the younger couple decided to take a walk in the nearby garden, which happened to be the same garden they had visited on their first date. Apollo had stopped his work for the day, so the sun had already set and the evening was closing in. The lovely fragrance of the flowers hung heavily in the air: the garden was every bit as lovely as Meg had remembered. So much had happened since the last time she had been there.

Hercules, however, seemed more or less absent: Meg took a side-way glance to her hero, walking beside her. She could tell that something was bothering him by the look of his face. Meg decided to try her luck.

"Sooo, what's ya thinking Wonderboy? Is something that happened back in your hometown bothering you?" Meg asked cautiously. She had gathered from their previous conversations that his teenage-age years hadn't been exactly the best of times for him, even if he had never really elaborated the tales with details.

He looked surprised to hear her question and he looked back at her. "You want to hear more about my life?"

Meg scoffed. "Is it really that surprising for a girl to want to know more about her man?"

Hercules blushed. He smiled despite himself: he felt warmth spreading in his chest as he contemplated her words and the fact that she had just called him her man. Yes, he could live with that. And to be honest, he did quite like the sound of it.

"Oh! Oh, yeah. Well, that was not exactly the best of the times for me," Hercules then told her, continuing to walk as he obviously contemplated what to tell her next. Meg followed his suit, placing her hand to his bigger one. Hercules gently squeezed her hand, comforted by her presence. He stopped and turned to take a better look at her. He ran his fingers on her cheek and pulled her in for a long, tender kiss. Meg pressed herself against him, sighing as she enjoyed his closeness. After the kiss, Hercules was left gazing at her, admiring at her beauty. Meg, however, had not forgotten their original topic.

"So you were saying, about your time in Arcadia…?" Meg softly pushed on and Hercules seemed to come out of his reverie.

For a moment Hercules' stopped in his tracks and then he sighed. Meg saw the forlorn look in his eyes and she suddenly felt regret that she should ask him such a question.

"Look, I don't mean to pry, if you don't want to talk about it…" Meg begun, put Hercules placed a finger gently on her lips to silence her.

"Meg, if I want to talk to somebody about this stuff, I want to talk to you about it. I just haven't ever really talked about those years before: Alcemene and Amphitryon were great parents, but the other villagers… They thought I was a freak of nature," Hercules sat down on the nearby bench and his shoulders slumped down. Meg felt bad for him: the people could be so cruel, she herself knew that.

"Because of that, I didn't have any friends. People called out to me as a menace or Destructo-boy. That's how I decided to seek guidance from my father Zeus, who pointed me Phil's direction. I just felt like…" Hercules was seeking for the right words, but Meg understood.

"Like you didn't belong there?" She finished quietly.

"Yes," He replied, his reply barely a whisper.

"I know how that feels." Meg really did understand it: her own home had been nothing but a golden cage, where she never had felt at home. And the places she had ended up after that… Well, they were even worse. Until she had met him: he was like a beacon of hope, proving that not everybody were self-centered and petty. So yes, she understood his pain in her own way. In a certain sense, it was somewhat comforting to know that even her perfect Wonderboy had his own ghosts. That he wasn't really just as perfect as he seemed to be, which made him more _human_.

"So that's why it seems kinda hard to go back there?" Meg finished out for him.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I feel bad for mom and pop, I shouldn't feel bad when I visit them," Hercules stopped to look a the fountain, deep in his thoughts.

"But it's not about them, it's about the other people, isn't it? And if you do want to go back there someday, I'll go with you. Facing your past can be daunting, but it won't be as bad if you don't have to do it alone. At least I think so," Meg thought aloud and then internally grimaced. _'Really? That's what you're gonna say to him? And when are you gonna follow your own advice?_ ' she mentally chided herself.

Hercules, on the other hand, seemed encouraged by her words.

"Thanks Meg, that means a lot to me. I'm sure facing all that stuff will be a lot easier with you on my side," He smiled at her warmly, wrapping his arm around her.

Hercules pulled her to his arms, thankful for her presence. He breathed in the fragrance of her hair: just having her there was enough. To know that she understood, that she accepted him the way he was.

"I used to think before that because I was born as an immortal, I couldn't fit in among the mortal men. But then when Father asked me to join the Pantheon again, I understood that I had found that sense of belonging already. I found it with you, Meg," He told her, cradling her softly in his arms. Meg pulled away to look at him: she did understand. There were parts of them that were hurting or broken, but together, that pain went away and it was replaced by something far more beautiful, more precious: _love._ More so, they understood each other and saw the best of each other.

"That's why I didn't choose Olympus. For a moment, I had to face a world without you in it and it was a dark place. I had lost you once already: I didn't want to lose you again. No matter what mount Olympus could offer to me, it couldn't compete with this," Hercules quietly finished, running his fingers on Meg's cheek.

"And I'm thankful for it, I have never felt at home. Not anywhere really. But with you, I feel at ease when I'm in your arms. I feel like home," Meg told him softly. He tilted her head so she was looking directly at him and then pulled her in for a kiss. They were lost in each other and for once, Meg wasn't afraid of losing herself into him. She was sure, that he would be there to catch her. She would be there too when he needed her.

After all, they had already chosen each other, and shown each other parts of them that they couldn't share with anyone else. _This was home._

* * *

When the night-time arrived, Meg found herself wide awake even though it was way past midnight. The night before she had fallen asleep easily because of her exhaustion. Now she wasn't as lucky. Hercules was deep asleep, but his arms were still wrapped around her. Meg was thankful for it: his touch brought so much comfort to her. It was hard to get lost in her negative thoughts when he was there, even if he was fast asleep.

Meg was afraid. She was afraid what Hercules would say, how he would react, after finding out about her family. She was afraid that one day Hercules would regret his decision to stay with her as a mortal. She was afraid that one day, he would want to leave her. She was afraid that one day he wouldn't see her the same way as he saw her at the moment. Hercules saw her as a brave, smart and good-hearted girl, but she herself could not see it, no matter how hard she would try.

Also, there was a nagging voice inside her head that Hades wasn't gone, not really.

And who was she to advise Hercules on meeting his past and facing his fears when she obviously was unable to do so herself? She sighed as the thoughts inside her head circled around like a flock of vultures, not giving her a moment of peace.

"Meg?" Groggy voice of Hercules called her. Her constant tossing and turning had seemed to woken him up as well.

"I'm sorry, I just can't seem to sleep tonight," Meg apologized, feeling bad for him.

"Oh. Come here honey," sleepy Hercules pulled her to him and nuzzled her hair. _'Honey? He hasn't called me that before,'_ Meg thought to herself and smiled. If anyone else would have called her that, she would have thought it was incredible cheesy and tacky. But from Wonderboy… It was simply endearing. _Honey._

Meg closed her eyes and pressed herself against his chest. She had never felt as safe as she felt in his arms. She felt loved, protected. As if nothing really bad could happen when she was with him.

"I love you Wonderboy," the words escaped from her lips like it was the most natural thing ever. Before she could even think about it more, she heard his chuckle and his sleepy answer: "I love you too, Meg," which brought a smile to Meg's lips. Before she even knew, Morpheus had finally granted her sleep.

\- A/N: Second chapter is in! I found out that the ancient citadel in Thebes was called as Cadmea, so I decided to use it for my own benefits in this story. I also spotted out that Athos was really a name of a giant in Greek mythology: I found pretty hilarious considering The Three Musketeers and all that stuff, so I decided to use it as well. Thanks for reading and special shout out for those lovely people, who reviewed! You're the best.


	3. Of Insecurities and Intervening Gods

**Chapter 3: Of Insecurities, Intervening Gods & Romantic Rendezvous  
**

 _"Lovers in the long grass  
Look above them  
Only they can see  
Where the clouds are going  
Only to discover  
Dust and sunlight  
Ever make the sky so blue_

 _Afternoon is hazy  
River flowing  
All around the sounds  
Moving closer to them  
Telling them the story  
Told by Flora  
Dreams they never knew"_

 _Flora's Secret_ by Enya

* * *

The next morning Meg was quite sure that Hercules had forgotten what had happened last night, but she was quickly proven wrong.

"Good morning," Hercules whispered to her ear as he placed a tender kiss on her cheek. She smiled: this was the right way to wake up.

"Good morning to yourself," Meg turned to her other side to face him and she was pulled for a slow, lingering kiss. Oh yes, _this was_ the right way to wake up.

After the kiss, Hercules ran his finger gently in her hair.

"So what was the last night about?" He asked tenderly.

Meg sighed. Of course Wonderboy wouldn't let this go.

"It was nothing…" She begun, but after she saw his face, she knew he really wouldn't let this one go.

"Well, to be honest, I was just… Thinking," Meg replied quietly.

"Thinking about what?" Hercules gently pressed on while his fingers were tracing soothing circles on her shoulder.

"Well… I was thinking about us," Meg begin and Hercules frowned at this as he felt his insecurity raising its ugly head once again.

"I just… So many things have happened lately. I'm just afraid that someday, you will regret that choosing me and staying as a mortal. I'm afraid that one day you'll wake up and you won't see me the way you see me now. I'm afraid that you will end up bitter because you chose me. I'm afraid that Hades isn't really gone," All those things she had tried to keep inside suddenly escaped from her and she felt herself almost trembling because of its impact.

Suddenly it clicked in Hercules' head: she was afraid that she wasn't enough. He knew those feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt better than most of the people, because he had been battling those for the most of his life. And the vengeful Lord of the Death did certainly not make the things any easier for her. He pulled Meg even closer to himself and nuzzled her hair.

"As long as I remember I've felt like I wasn't enough, like I didn't fit among the rest of the people. I understand how you feel, I do. But I could never regret choosing you. Because I only feel complete when I'm with you. You and this, us being together, is my dream: not Mount Olympus or anything else could compete with this. No matter what comes our way, may it be Hades himself or anything else, we'll work it out. Together," Hercules promised, holding her near.

Meg felt tears filling her eyes: she still had hard time believing that someone would really value her above anything else, that being with her was worth all the sacrifices. Hercules now understood this: he would prove it to her again and again until she would believe it.

* * *

The day was rather uneventful (at least on their _'saving the Cosmos and stopping the apocalypse'_ -scale), Hercules had went training with Phil and then attended some event at his flag-store in the city centre of Thebes. Meg had went to the market, picking up some groceries. Then she went back to the villa, first reading some scrolls and then preparing a light meal for herself and Herc when he got back home. (She really needed to find other ways to spend her days, she was starting to feel like a spoiled stay at home wife.)

So when the evening came, Hercules and Meg were having a nice, serene evening at home.

That was, until Athena popped by. Meg was half-way walking from atrium to kitchen, her eyes glued to a scroll of that day's _Greekly World News_ at her hands when she suddenly heard someone clearing her throat. She raised her eyes and found herself almost face to face with the Goddess of Wisdom. She gasped loudily and Hercules stamped to the room after hearing her muffled cry.

"Hercules, Megara, hope I'm not interrupting," Athena acknowledged both of them.

"Erm, no…?" Hercules was puzzled to find her standing in his house. When he was younger, Athena had asked for his help multiple times, but that was years ago. He didn't even live in Athens any more and she was the patron Goddess of Athens. She was in Thebes, city-state which had strained relations to Athens, to say the least. What could she possibly want?

"I guess this is not a social visit, huh?" Meg asked, already sensing that the Goddess had a reason to be there.

"Just wanted to let you know, that Hades has gotten out of the Vortex of souls," Athena then told them, her face completely void of feelings. Meg felt a knot forming in her stomach and Hercules put a reassuring hand around her.

"Do not worry, though: we have some of our own people keeping their eyes on Hades," Athena then tried to comfort them. Meg wondered who of the Gods would have the unfortunate fate of being the babysitter of Hades?

"Alright, that's… Good," Hercules was still unsure why Athena wanted to tell them this personally.

"Yes, yes it is. After Hades' betrayal, all of Olympus is in state of… Unrest. We may need your help to restore the peace, Hercules," Athena then continued, looking directly at the hero.

"Okay, care to elaborate?" Meg arched her brow, feeling anxious. What did she mean exactly by that? She did not look forward into meddling with the affairs of the Gods.

"At the moment, I can't. But when I can tell you more, I will. That's all for now. Farewell," Athena stated, her gazed already distant as she suddenly disappeared.

Then Meg and Hercules were left alone once again. Somehow they knew that it wouldn't be long before Athena (or some other God) would appear at their home yet again, asking for help. And surely that would be at the most inconvenient of the times.

Meg especially felt uneasy of what all this could possibly mean. The sleep would not come easy that night either.

* * *

The following day had turned out be sunny and beautiful: Hercules had woken up at dawn to finish his workout early.

He had noticed how badly Meg had been shaken by the news of Hades' return. He wanted to do something special for her, to give her something more positive to think about. So he had told her that he would finish his training early that day and he would spent the rest of the day with her, doing something nice. Meg had gladly agreed, happy to have him as company and not dwell the whole day with her own, depressing thoughts.

When Phil had arrived to the stadium, his pupil had been already half-through his work-out routine.

"What's the rush, kid?" Phil grumbled as he made his way to his student.

"Oh, hi Phil! Well, I was kinda thinking…" Hercules stammered as he was lifting the barbells.

"Spit it out, kid," Phil had taken a notice of Meg sneaking to the arena, so he had a faint idea were this was going.

"I was kinda wishing I could spend the rest of the day with Meg," Hercules blurted out, already anticipating Phil lashing out.

Phil sighed. _'Knew it.'_

"After you finish your work out, you're free to go, kid," Phil then replied.

Hercules put down the barbells, awestruck.

"Really? I can go with Meg?" Hercules then made sure.

"SISTER! Get a move on, I wanna talk to you!" Phil shouted to Meg, who was waiting farther away.

Meg made her way to the two of them, looking more then a little suspicious. Phil couldn't blame her; he hadn't been exactly friendly to her at all times.

"Herc told me that he wanted to get the rest of the day off to spent it with you," Phil huffed out.

"Look goatman-," Meg begun, but Phil stopped her on her tracks.

"I told him that's fine by me," he looked first at Meg and then at his student.

"Really?" Meg had a puzzled look on her face and then glanced at Hercules, who seemed just as surprised as she was.

"Yes, really. First off, if the kid decided to stay here on Earth because of you, wouldn't it be reasonable for him to be able actually spent time with you? Secondly, I obviously judged you wrongly and I'm sorry for it," Phil explained to her, to the both of them.

"Oh. Thanks Phil, that means a lot to me. I think we started on a wrong foot (or in your case, on a wrong hoof), so maybe we should leave that to the past?" Meg had lowered her guards and was now looking at him earnestly.

"Deal. Just don't do anything stupid, okay?" Phil told them gruffly, busying himself with organizing the equipment.

"We won't, thanks Phil!" Hercules told him happily, taking Meg's hand to his own. He started to explain something vividly to her and she laughed at whatever he had told her. There was that shine in his eyes that only people who were madly in love had. More so, that same shine was reflected back in Meg's eyes.

He had never seen the kid happier. And he had never seen Meg laugh like that, like… She was truly happy. He hadn't seen either of the two as happy as they were together. So who was he to stand against their happiness?

Besides, the kid had already fulfilled his own dream and he had fulfilled Phil's dream as well, just as he had promised.

Phil had the feeling that he hadn't much more work left to be done with the kid, that soon he could get back to Idra, his home on the island, and truly continue his retirement.

* * *

Hercules had had a perfect spot on his mind where he wanted to go with Meg.

They had found a secluded place in the shade of the trees on the outskirts of the city. It was peaceful and serene, completely different to the hustle and bustle in the city. But the best part of it all? There were only the two of them.

The two of them were laying on the grass, looking at the sky and occasionally talking about whatever came to their mind. It was a lazy afternoon, but to Hercules, it was perfect.

He glanced at the woman laying next to him. _'She is perfect,_ ' he silently corrected in his mind. There were moments like these when he was taken aback by her beauty: he felt actually surprised that she was there, next to him. That he had managed to save her and after all that had happened, she still wanted to be with him. That she still loved him. For that, he felt truly blessed: to find someone he loved and who loved him back just as much. When he was younger, he thought he would never find anything like that, especially not anyone like her. So having her there with him was more than he could ever even ask for. This was so much more than mount Olympus could ever offer.

Meg seemed to notice his stare and playfully asked: "You like what you see?"

Hercules surprised her by rolling over and placing himself on top of her, adjusting his weight on his hands framing her body.

"Yes, I actually do. It's the most beautiful sight there is to see," he told her gently, coming closer.

Meg bit her lower lip, looking at him under her long lashes.

"Oh? Is that so?" She smiled at him seductively and instead of replying, his lips came crashing at hers and they found themselves rolling around in the long grass.

Luckily, it was a long day and Apollo granted them few extra moments to spent alone in the quiet solitude of the forest.

* * *

-A/N: My oh my, what is Hades up to (because Hades is always up to something)? And what's going on with the Gods of Olympus? I know I've put much emphasize on insecurities of both Meg and Herc, but I think they have been through some things, that need some time to heal. There is some disgustingly sweet romantic moments here as well, so you're welcome. *wink wink* Once again, thank you so much for anybody commenting, following or showing their support in any way. You guys rock. Until next time, take care.


	4. Of Making All Kinds of Plans

**Chapter 4: Of Making All Kinds of Plans**

 _"Time it took us_  
 _To where the water was_  
 _That's what the water gave me_  
 _And time goes quicker_  
 _Between the two of us_  
 _Oh, my love, don't forsake me_  
 _Take what the water gave me."_

 _What the Water Gave Me_ by Florence + The Machine

To be honest, Apollo had always preferred Delphi over Thebes. After all, he had his own temple AND an oracle dedicated to himself only in Delphi! That, if anything, would make a guy (or a God) feel special.

Sure, officially he was considered as the patron God of both Delphi AND Thebes, but he shared the patronage over Thebes with his half-brother, Dionysus.

Dionysus, the god of wine and merrymaking, was not the one to be relied on as the leading god of a city-state: that much was obvious considering how much damage both the city-state and the royal family of Cadmus had suffered during the past few centuries. Not to mention all the destruction Hades had brought upon the city-state as he had tried to bring down Hercules, the young hero and the son of Zeus himself.

Nevertheless, Apollo had been more than happy to let Dionysus rule over Thebes as he looked after his beloved Delphi. Everybody knew that the royal house of Thebes had been cursed: not many gods seemed to be bothered over this situation that much. City-states would come and go as the mortals fought against each other and fell to either sword or old age: that was how the things were supposed to go and everybody on Olympus knew that. There had been even rumors going around that the city-state would be eventually obliterated and Dionysus, as a god who lived for the present moment only and did not concern himself over the matters of what might be, did not seem to be too much concerned because of this. Neither was Apollo, concerned that is.

Now the situation had been changed however. Hercules, the beloved son of the lord and the lady of Olympus, had chosen to live his life as a mortal (a choice Apollo himself had still hard time in understanding) with a woman he loved. And out of all the cities in Greece, they were living in Thebes! And this woman Hercules was in love with just so happened to be a direct continuation to the lineage of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes.

So yes, Apollo had the funny feeling that if Thebes would just so be wiped out of the map and the son of Zeus happened to get in the line of fire (so to speak), he would be the one becoming responsible in that unfortunate situation. (Every God of Pantheon knew that holding Dionysus as responsible over such matter was complete waste of time, it was as useful as the work Sisyphus had to do to pass his time in Underworld.)

So from now on, Apollo would keep his eye (both eyes, if possible) more eagerly glued to the matters concerning Thebes. Heck, Apollo was already in Zeus' list of unpopular Gods because he had been oblivious to what Hades had been doing in Thebes for almost two decades. He had enough matters on his plate as the things were. He did not need to anger the king of Gods any further to make matters worse. Apollo had to step up his game and keep a better eye on matters of Thebes, if he wanted to become mr. Popularity on mount Olympus once again.

He could only hope that all those rumors concerning the destruction of Thebes would stay as they were: _as rumors_. Luckily Hades was staying grounded in his own kingdom at the moment, so how hard could protecting one city-state be?

* * *

Hercules had been summoned by king Creon to his palace once again. Unluckily for Hercules, he had nothing new to tell for the king, which displeased the ruler immensely. If there really was someone plotting against the king, he had heard nothing of it. After all, he was a hero, not a spy, so that really wasn't part of his job description in the first place. Unfortunately, the king himself didn't seem to agree with him on this.

The king was left pacing around his throne-room in a frantic manner and muttering to himself. Hercules caught a word from here and there, he was muttering something about everybody plotting against him and the Gods themselves turning their back at him.

"Your Highness, I'm sure that the common people at least are not plotting against you. Maybe were not looking at the right place?" Hercules tried to reason with the frantic ruler.

"Lies, all lies. Off with their heads, all of them!" The king shouted, still pacing around the room. Hercules shared an uneasy look with Phil.

"Your Majesty, I'm sure we'll find a better solution…" Hercules tried to offer, but was quickly stopped by the king.

"If you're not with me, you're against me!" The king looked furious and for a moment, Hercules wondered if the king was going to start the executions with him.

"Now now, calm down dear, you're exhausted and you need to lay down. You look all pale!" An elderly woman suddenly entered the throne room and put her hand around the king. Now that the woman had mentioned the king's appearance, Hercules too took a notice of his unusually pale complexion.

The king looked displeased, as if he was going to disagree with the woman, but then he just sighed.

"Fine, you win, mother. I'll go and rest, but we're going to talk about this matter later on," the king grumbled as he headed obviously towards his private quarters.

"Thank you for your help, Your Highness," Hercules slightly bowed down his head before the older woman.

"Oh, I don't think we had the pleasure of meeting each other. I'm the queen-mother Harmonia, mother of king Creon," the queen-mother's eyes were sparkling with mischief.

"I don't think so either. I am Hercules, son of Zeus, and this is my trainer Philoctetes," Hercules introduced the two of them.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness," Phil was uncharacteristically eloquent before the queen-mother. Hercules wasn't surprised: she obviously was a woman who demanded people's attention no matter where she went. She was an elegant and up-right woman, no matter her age.

"The pleasure is mine, I'm sure," she replied with a slight smile.

"I must apologize for my son's behavior. He might be the king, but it seems like his mental state has been… Deteriorating lately," She sighed, deep sorrow etched to her aged yet beautiful features.

"I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?" Hercules gave the woman a compassionate look.

"Lots of things. Let's just say that he lost way too many things in such a short span of time. He himself is sure that the Gods themselves have cursed his whole bloodline," the queen-mother shook her head.

"I certainly hope not. If there's any way I can assist, do not hesitate to ask, Your Highness," Hercules gave her a reassuring smile and she smiled back at him.

"Such a fine man you are. Thank you, I'll keep your offer in my mind," She replied with a smile.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to see how my son is faring," the queen-mother took her leave and headed after her son.

Hercules and Phil took off as well, heading to the royal stables to find Pegasus and went back to Herc's villa.

In there, they found Meg who was surrounded by numerous pieces of Herc's battle garment. Both Herc and Phil were taken aback by the sight.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Hercules asked, his mouth agape with surprise.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Planning to become a gladiator? I'm sorting this stuff out, your storage room is a mess," Meg huffed as she continued with her work.

"Oh. We should really find you something more useful to do, you're not my maid," Hercules told her, as he moved away few heavier pieces of equipment.

"Be careful with those, they're worth of many drakhmas!" Phil warned her and she simply made a face back at him. Hercules sighed and shook his head at their antics.

"So, how did your meeting with the king go?" Meg still kept herself busy with the equipment, her voice completely even.

"Not so good," Hercules sighed.

"His losing his mind, the king is," Phil replied, polishing a trophy he found just lying on the floor.

"What?" Meg stopped her work, her brows knitted together in a concerned manner.

"Well, he was talking about beheading anybody standing against him. Luckily for us, the queen-mother Harmonia stepped in and talked him to taking some time to rest. So afterwards she told us that her son has witnessed so many personal losses that his mental state is not very good at the moment," Hercules explained.

"Oh," Meg simply sighed out, sitting down on the floor. She had a blank expression on her face.

"And you met the queen-mother?"

"Yes, she seems like a wonderful woman," Hercules sat down next to her.

"Sharp as a razor-blade. Like her much better than her son," Phil agreed.

"Oh. That's… Good," Meg simply answered back, her eyes still glossy and distant.

"Meg, are you okay?" Hercules gave her a concerned look. She wasn't really acting like herself at the moment. Why was this affecting her this much?

"Yeah, I'm sure. What would you say if we went to visit your parents, your MORTAL parents in Arcadia?" Meg brushed the first topic off and changed the subject.

"You want to go to Arcadia?" Hercules was taken aback by her sudden change of topic.

"Yeah, well your folks sent us a scroll, thanking us for the last time when they were visiting Thebes. They also invited us to visit them as well for a change. If you're not on the king's list of most popular people of Thebes at the moment, maybe laying low for a while would be a good idea?" Meg proposed.

"Yeah, I see your point. I guess we could do that," Hercules agreed, still a little perplexed. He had the most peculiar sensation that Meg was not telling him everything

"Great, I'll write a scroll to answer them immediately, I'll ask Hermes to deliver it ASAP," Meg replied, already heading to another room to find a scroll and a quill.

"Sign me out, I don't feel like visiting the countryside. Too many sheep for my taste," Phil told her as he too went his own way.

"Well, you weren't even invited, goatman!" Meg snappily told him and Hercules heard Phil muttering something more or less profane back at her.

Hercules sighed as he was left sitting there alone, still wondering what had just happened. He hadn't been back in Arcadia since he was a teenager and now, suddenly he was going back there. He already felt the trepidation.

* * *

Hades was royally pissed. The plan he had threaded out so carefully for countless years and now, it was all but gone. And why? Because of his _Nutmeg_ had for some unknown reason fallen madly in love with that irksome son of Zeus.

Maybe using her to learn more about _Jerkules_ wasn't such a brilliant idea as he had thought it was.

Hades had thought that maybe, just MAYBE he could trap both Meg AND Jerkules as a consolation prize in the river Styx, but NOPE. That plan had also crashed and instead of the two lovebirds, he himself was trapped to the river, where he had spend good amount of not-so-much quality time.

AND when he had thought that now that Jerkules was a god and all that jazz, he would at least have a chance to have is revenge on poor little mortal Nutmeg. But NO, that plan was out of question as well: he quickly learned from his two minions (who had obviously been just lazying around and occasionally reading _Greekly World News_ ) that Jerkules had in fact declined from his position as a god and decided to stay with his sweetheart on Earth. REALLY?! After all that dolt had gone through to stop his plans from working, he didn't even want his position as a god, just because of that foolish mortal girl?

And when he finally got out of the river where that dolt had plummeted him in, he found out that his brother Zeussie had kindly grounded him inside his own domain. And out of all gods and demi-goddesses out there, they had put Nemesis as his guardian. Numerous times a day, Nemesis would drop in to check on him, complaining how he wasted her valuable time (Hades had pointed out that he did not enjoy her visits any more than she did, that just maybe she could go her merry way to any other direction, but this only irritated her more and she declared that she would smite him, if he continued to annoy her). So yes, Hades was in fact more than annoyed: he was royally pissed.

This had been going on for days, when he finally had a visitor (well, any other visitor than Nemesis). A voluptuous woman dressed in earthy brown cloak, her long red hair trailing behind her. Her face was timeless and her age could only be guessed: Hades knew that she was in fact, older than the time itself.

"Cybele, babe! Good to see you! Not here only for a social visit, huh?" Hades went to greet her, but she only gave him a suspicious look.

"Hades, you weren't my first choice, but I have the reasons to believe that you are holding a grudge against the Olympian gods just as I am," Cybele ignored his out-stretched hand, walking past him. Hades felt his temper flaring, yet he fought against his urges. Then her words started to raise his interest. Grudges, against his brother and the other high and mighty Gods? Now this was interesting.

"Oh boy, do I have my reasons? Do you want the list or the brief version?" Hades huffed out a humorless laugh.

"I prefer no version, actually. I thought you and I might be able to… Help each other," Cybele studied him, a cold smile on her face.

"Help each other, huh? I suppose you want something more than just grief counseling. What exactly do you have in mind?" Hades' mind was already racing.

"Oh, _so much more_. As you might know, I used to be worshiped all across Greece and Asia Minor. That was, before the Olympian Gods displaced me. I still had my worshipers in Asia Minor, but after the Trojan war, the numbers of my followers dropped dramatically. First, my place was usurped and then the Greeks came and annihilated my people! I cannot tolerate this!" the ancient Goddess ranted and raved. Hades felt a smug smile tugging the corners of his mouth: Zeus had said that he couldn't leave the Underworld and rise against them, but what if he would use _her_ to do it? She would be the perfect scapegoat and he could be collecting the pieces afterwards.

"You got a point there sister, you have been pretty much ridiculed before the whole Cosmos!" Hades only fueled her anger.

"Those ignorant Greeks thinking they can do anything," Cybele huffed as she kept pacing around.

"What if I told you that I can give you back your Trojan army, Hector and all the other bad boys of Troy?" Hades had a devious plan already forming in his mind.

"But my Trojan army was slain!" Cybele looked perplexed.

"Exactly. Slain heroes is kind of my specialty," Hades had a predatory smile on his face.

"Hmph. Tell me more, Hades," Cybele was starting to like the sound of this plan.

-A/N: So Hades is officially back in picture and has a new ally! How do we feel about that? The last chapter was so sweet, so now it's time to move the story itself forward. I try my best to incorporate elements of Greek mythology in this story, but in the style of Disney's Hercules, I'll interpret them in my own way. Once again, thank you so much for the comments, favorites and follows: above all, I appreciate you taking time to read my story.


	5. Of Following Your Heartlines

**Chapter 5: Of Following Your Heartlines**

 _"This fantasy, this fallacy, this tumbling stone  
Echoes of a city that's long overgrown  
Your heart is the only place that I call home  
Can I be returned, you can  
You can, we can_

 _Just keep following  
The heartlines on your hand  
Keep it up, I know you can  
Just keep following  
The heartlines on your hand_

 _What a thing to do  
Oh-woah-oh what a thing to choose  
But know, in some way I'm there with you  
Up against the wall on a Wednesday afternoon."_

\- _Heartlines_ by Florence + The Machine

* * *

That day, Hercules and Meg had made plans to make their way to Arcadia, to visit Herc's mortal parents there. The evening before, they had finally visited the market to buy new chitons for Meg (who had been having her share of fun at teasing poor Herc who had to to voice his opinions concerning which new outfits she should get). They finally had their things packed and Pegasus was already waiting for them when suddenly… A divine intervention happened.

"Athena, what a… Surprise," Hercules lamely commented when he saw the Goddess of the wisdom in his vestibule. He knew that she would reappear eventually, but he really did not look forward at being pulled into disputes between his godly relatives.

"Indeed. Hercules, I have a favor to ask of you," Athena cut straight to the chase. Hercules shared a look with Meg. This did not sound good.

"Yeah, what does it concern?" Hercules was already fearing that what ever she would ask, it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Your father, Zeus. After the incident with Hades, Zeus has been planning some kind of… An organization renewal," Athena explained.

"An organization renewal? On mount Olympus?" Meg asked with, looking sceptical.

"What does that even mean?" Hercules then asked.

"We are… Not entirely sure. It seems that he doesn't trust that we, Gods, aren't doing our work as well as we should. It seems he doesn't trust our judgement and from now on, we are required to report either to Hermes or Zeus himself if we are planning to do something which has not been recently discussed at the council of the Gods," Athena then elaborated.

"And that is bad because…?" Hercules was struggling to follow her train of thought.

"Because we are Gods! We should be omnipotent and not to be reduced into reporting every minor deviation to the plans for someone!" Athena exclaimed, uncharacteristically tense.

"Well, you did fail to notice that one of your fellow Gods was planning to take over the Cosmos for _several decades_ ," Meg drily pointed out. Meg was not completely sure if it really would be such a bad thing that sphere of action allowed to the Gods would be more limited: it was obvious that some of them (if not all of them) had the habit of rushing into things and doing unreasonable things at the expense of the mortals.

"Please, don't start that: Zeus has been raving about that far enough. Besides, Hades is been supervised," Athena dismissed the topic and Meg shrugged: all this talk about cosmic changes was making her head ache.

"And what is my role in all this? What would you prefer me to do?" Hercules asked with a sigh. He knew that Athena was telling this for a reason.

"Please, reason with your father. If he listens to anyone, it would be his own son!" Athena pleaded.

"You know father's opinion is not easily changed," Hercules pointed out, already fearing that all his efforts would go to waste.

"Just try, that's all I ask," Athena reasoned and Hercules sighed again.

"Fine, I'll do my best," Hercules shook his head, already dreading this new challenge.

"Thank you Hercules, and Megara. Have a lovely day," Athena slightly nodded her head and disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Meg pointed out the obvious.

"Yeah, me too," Hercules confessed, wrapping his arm around her.

"You think you can talk him over?" Meg glanced at him as she pushed herself closer to him.

"My father? I doubt it, his the most stubborn person, _besides you_ , I've met. But I'll try, I made a promise after all," Hercules confided at her.

"Yeah, that plan seems a bit… Far-fetched," Meg gave him an apologetic smile and Hercules sighed, once again.

"Well, these grand cosmic matters must wait, I'll talk to father on our way back from Arcadia. Who knows, maybe the situation has been resolved before that," Hercules, ever the optimistic, proposed.

"It's good that one of us has the faith in things working out," Meg huffed a small laugh.

"I know they will, as long as we are together," Hercules told her, brushing her cheek lightly.

"Awww, my romantic hero," Meg teased him, before giving him a small kiss.

"Let's get going, Pegasus is already waiting for us," she then told him, taking his hand and starting to make her way towards the stables.

Yes, the grand cosmic consequences would have to wait: first, he would have to face his past.

* * *

As happy as Hercules was to meet his parents, he also felt… Anxious. His memories of his childhood home wasn't exactly the best. Alcemene and Amphitryon had prepared a warm welcome and a great meal to the young pair: they obviously liked Meg tremendously and wanted to make her feel welcome, which Hercules was grateful for. The conversation flowed quite easily, even if Hercules struggled to follow it.

After the meal, Alcemene suggested, that Meg and Hercules could take Pegasus and visit the agora.

"It was re-build after the… Incident," Amphitryon awkwardly finished. Suddenly Meg understood: she did remember Hercules mentioning this episode before in one of their conversations. Meg glanced at Hercules, who replied: "Are you sure you don't need a hand in the farm work? I could help…"

"Oh nonsense, son! You should show your girlfriend around, even if this isn't anything like Thebes," Amphitryon replied, scratching his neck awkwardly (a nervous habit Hercules had obviously picked up from his adoptive father, Meg deduced).

"It's nice to get away from Thebes every once in a while, there's too much of everything in there. Too much noise, too much people, and way too much traffic," Meg politely told him.

"Yes, I certainly agree with you! Go on, you young people should have your fun, " Amphitryon replied with a kind smile on his face, before heading the direction of his shed.

"We don't have to go the market, if you don't feel like it, you know?" Meg then told Hercules, looking at him compassionately.

"I know, but I have to face my past. If I don't go now, when would I do it? And I have you beside me, it makes things so much easier for me," Hercules told her gently, pulling her hand to his.

"Okay, let's do it then," Meg told him, giving him an encouraging smile.

* * *

It felt strange to be back at… He couldn't say that this place ever really was his home, but he did grow up here. And to be back at the agora, where the single most embarrassing moment (and he had had a plenty of _those_ ) of his life had taken place. It was… Painful. Meg took his hand to her own and gave him an encouraging squeeze. Meg surely knew more or less what was going on inside his head and Hercules was once again thankful for her support.

"So are we gonna do this or what?" Meg asked him.

"Yeah, I guess so. I'm not ever gonna be more ready than this," Hercules sighed as they entered the same market place where he had once wrecked so much havoc. Luckily they had rebuild the marketplace and he had learned to control his strength.

The people immediately recognized him: after all, he was nowadays known throughout the Greek world. The people who had once scorned at him now treated him like… Like a hero, like a _god_ , returning to his home. Hercules wanted to scoff at the idea. Everyone wanted to talk to him, pretending like they knew him.

It was a hot day and the agora was like a boiling pot with all the sand and marble. At one point, when the people simply wouldn't leave him be, Meg nudged his shoulder and told him that she would give poor Pegasus some water. He nodded, not looking forward to be left alone. He knew it was ridiculous, but just Meg's presence made it all easier to tolerate. Meg seemed to notice his uneasiness and she promised to be quick, giving his cheek a quick kiss.

The endless stream of people seemed to be finally coming to its end, but just then Hercules saw them: Thalos and his gang. His old bullies weren't gangly teenagers anymore, but they weren't as tall (and muscular) as him either.

"Hercules! Old pal, how are you? Good to see you again," Thalos greeted him over-enthusiastically. For a moment Hercules thought he had heard things, because they had never been friends of any sorts. Before he had even time to respond, Thalos started to bomb him with endless stream of questions. He wanted to know what it was like to be as famous as Hercules, if he had many fans, how many drakhmas he had earned in his hero business and if he had many women.

When Hercules thought he would finally lose it, Thalos and his friends lost their interest in him. They had a new point of interest: they had seen Meg.

"Holy Hera! Who is that? She's more beautiful than Aphrodite herself!" Thalos' jaw had dropped to the ground. Hercules knew that case to be a fact: Meg really _was_ more beautiful than Aphrodite.

"She's a total babe!" Thalos' friend agreed.

"I'm gonna talk to her, you'll see she'll be like molten wax in my hands," Thalos pulled his hand through his hair and started to approach Meg.

"Hello sweetheart! Need someone to show you around?" Thalos greeted her with a slippery smile.

"Uh, not really. There's not a real chance to get lost in here, is there?" Meg looked cynically around the small marketplace.

"So, you're a clever one! I like that," Thalos made a show of laughing at her comment.

"Well, you obviously aren't: I already told you, your 'help' is not needed," Meg huffed, trying to get pass him but Thalos grapped her hand before she could get away.

"Why such a rush, sweetheart?" He smirked at her, but before Meg could answer, Thalos was pulled away.

"She already told you: do not touch her," Hercules growled at Thalos, who looked truly terrified as he tangled in Hercules' grip.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down big fella! I was just talking to her. Pretty girls like her always play hard to get, you understand?" Thalos babbled on.

"Pretty girls like her know what they mean: no means no," Hercules replied, feeling angrier by the second.

"How would you know that?" Thalos tried his best to squirm his way out of Hercules' iron grip, but his efforts were vain.

"Maybe he just knows more about women in general than you do?" Meg replied sarcastically. She had noticed that Hercules was really getting mad, so she placed her hand on his arm to calm him down. That seemed to work: Hercules came out of his reverie and dropped Thalos down.

"Oh I see how it works, sister: you go for the bigger fish, the great Hercules himself," Thalos huffed, still on the ground. Hercules felt his temper rising again: this guy really didn't know when to stop. Before he could do or say anything, Meg was on the top of the things. She placed her sandal-clad foot on the top of Thalos' hand with force which made Thalos howl with pain.

"Okay, so listen up boys. One: don't call me sister or sweetheart or any other nicknames. Two: I'm actually Hercules' girlfriend. For real. And three: Real men do not need to force women to do anything. Try remembering that the next time a girl tells you 'NO'," Meg told him, the undertone in her voice threatening.

As Meg turned around, Hercules pulled her to him. They were starting to leave as both them heard Thalos whining: "What is wrong with them? I think that bitch broke my hand!" Hercules' shoulders got stiff with anger: nobody had the right to call Meg by those kind of names. Meg placed a soothing hand on his bicep: "Don't. It's not worth it." Hercules sighed: he knew Meg was trying to bring some sense into him.

"I can see why growing up here wasn't exactly a dream come true: those guys were real jackasses. I bet that being different wasn't easiest thing to deal with around these people," Meg huffed as they continued to walk away from the agora, back to the place where Pegasus was waiting for them.

"Yeah, it wasn't. And those guys have always been jerks," Hercules sighed back.

"Well, now on they won't dare coming close to you: they probably think that your girlfriend is a fury or something!" Meg quipped. Hercules burst out laughing: it was just like Meg to see the humor in the situation.

"In that case you have to be the most beautiful fury there is," Hercules stopped walking and pulled Meg to himself. He kissed her deeply, not even caring if people (or those jerks) were watching them. Meg hummed against his mouth, enjoying their contact.

"My beautiful fury. I have to say, there was actually one thing that I agreed with Thalos," Hercules ran a finger on her cheek.

"Really? And that is?" Meg arched one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows in skepticism.

"He said that you have to be more beautiful than Aphrodite herself. I just know that to be true," Hercules replied with a smile. It was Meg's turn to laugh.

"Oh, you big lug, such a charmer!" She bumped her elbow to his arm and she continued giggling as they walked back to Pegasus.

\- A/N: So finally an update! I've always wanted to see Hercules meeting his old bullies, am I the only one? I am, okay, I'll deal with that...

Fun fact: Megaera is actually the name of one of the Furies or also known as the Erinyes: I was kinda referring to that in the end.

So I struggled a bit with writing this chapter and was reminded of an important lesson: if you're struggling with things, you might be over complicating things. That at least happened to me.

A quick shout-out to a guest reviewer Sheep who left me a nice, long review: A great, big thank you! I appreciate your review! In my fic Hercules seems more comfortable around Meg and less anxious, because I think that during the movie, you can see a certain shift in their communication: at the end of the movie he seems less awkward around her, especially when she's being herself. (Does that make any sense at all?)

And yes, all these things happening so far are pretty much prelude to the story itself: this is gonna be one loooong fan fic.

So thanks and kudos for all my readers!


	6. Of Petty Gods and Mortal Matters

**Chapter 6: Of Petty Gods And Mortal Matters**

" _And it's breaking over me_

 _A thousand miles down to the sea bed_

 _I found the place to rest my head_

 _Never let me go, never let me go_ _."_

 _Never Let Me Go_ by Florence + The Machine

* * *

On their way back to Thebes, Hercules and Meg stopped by Zeus' temple, just as Hercules had promised to Athena.

As Hercules approached the huge statue, Meg stayed back, feeling apprehensive. As Hercules called for his father, with a sudden lighting bolt, the statue turned into a living thing and Meg bolted back.

She wasn't sure when ( _if ever_ ) she would get used to these divine family meetings of her beloved.

"It's good to see you son!" Zeus joyfully exclaimed, tapping Hercules' head with one of his gigantic fingers. Then he turned his attention to her.

"Good to see you as well, Meg," he cheerfully told her and she weakly smiled back.

"Likewise, I'm sure," she replied, still not sure how she felt about the fact that the Lord of the Cosmos itself had just greeted her and called her by her nickname. And the fact that he was actually the birth-father of her boyfriend… Nope, she wouldn't even go there.

Somehow dealing with Hercules' adoptive parents seemed like a much more reasonable task.

"Father, there is reason why I called for you. I heard that you plan to restrain the authority of the Gods," Hercules began and already the face of Zeus turned sour.

"Now who told you that? Athena, huh? That tattler, I should have guessed… " he muttered, his irritated voice sounding surprisingly human.

"Father, are you sure this is the right course of action? Should you at least take some time to consider about it?" Hercules tried to propose, but his father already shook his head.

"I'm sorry son, but I have already made my mind. It is clear to me that the Gods aren't doing their job as well as they should. Complaining and fighting over minor things like a bunch of bicentennials! No, they need to be kept an eye on. They need an authority telling them what to do!" determined Zeus ended his rant.

"But father…" Hercules tried once again, but unfortunately his father dismissed him.

"Nevertheless, it was good seeing you. Both of you," Zeus focused momentarily his gaze on Meg once again before turning back into a stone statue.

Hercules sighed as his father was gone once again.

"So much for that card," she could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"I really do have a bad feeling about this. Didn't the takeover executed by the Olympian Gods start something like this? Back in the day, when Cronos and the Titans were still in power? Cronos tried to control all the other Titans, including his wife Rhea, and everybody got fed up with it?" Meg wondered aloud and Hercules rubbed his eyes wearily as he sighed.

"Yeah, well, Cronos did try to eat all his children. I guess that was the main factor which sped up things back then," Hercules reminded her, shaking his head.

"Good point. Good times, obviously," Meg responded in a sardonic manner. Then she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you tried. Give it some time, and as you said before, maybe the Gods can settle this matter among themselves?" Meg offered with a gentle smile.

"Yeah, I hope you're right," he momentarily looked back at her, comforted by her presence and gave her a small grin.

"Come, let's head back home," he took her hand and they headed back outside where Pegasus was waiting for them, eating the fresh, green grass.

* * *

After Meg and Hercules returned back, Hercules found himself _contemplating._

He had always admired Meg's quick wit and her ability to react quickly in any situation: after that incident on Arcadian agora, Hercules was even more impressed with those qualities of her. No matter what she faced ( _what they had faced)_ she held her head up high and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Even if he was fascinated by her beauty, it was her personality that he loved more than anything. Thinking of life without Meg in it seemed unbearable: he wanted to be with her, more than anything, he wanted to share his life with her.

He knew that he wanted to be with her more than anything. He knew that he wanted to ask her to marry him, but he wasn't quite sure how she would react: was she ready to take that step or would it be too soon to ask her to commit herself to him? He wasn't sure.

He had decided to wait for a while and enjoy what they already had in the meantime. And they did have a plenty to begin with.

That day, Hercules had returned to his villa after a hard day: he had been helping nearby farmers, because their crops had been nearly destroyed by a flood. Losing a crop would have meant a long winter without income and anything to eat for them. They were poor people, so they were overwhelmed with thankfulness for his help. They had been thanking him over and over again, with tears in their eyes. It was hard work, but helping people was what gave him joy. ( _How did he ever even think about staying on mount Olympus and not being able help people the way he did? What had he been thinking?)_

It was already getting dark outside when he put Pegasus in his stable, gave him brushing and some oats to eat.

"Goodnight, boy," Hercules told his loyal steed as he scratched his head gently and Pegasus whinnied back.

Hercules then made his way to his villa: the torches were lit as Meg was already waiting for him. The knowledge that she was waiting for him brought him comfort: he had always found it so lonely to return to his empty villa after a long day.

He made his way in and as he entered, he quickly noticed the inviting smell coming from the kitchen. He followed the smell and found Meg there, humming to herself as she prepared the meal. Hercules loved just watching her petite figure, moving around in the kitchen. And he loved to her singing, even if she did most of the time without even noticing that she was doing it.

Hercules went to wrap his arms around her body from behind and traced a line a kisses on her neck. Meg sighed, not a least bit surprised. She turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Welcome home," she told him, kissing him on his lips. He pulled her closer, sighing against her mouth. He had been only a day away, but he had already missed her so much.

"Thanks. I missed you, honey," he then confessed her, trailing her back with his hand.

"You do know that you were only gone for this afternoon and evening?" Meg playfully asked him, as she studied him with her eyes. _'No visible wounds or anything, thank goodness.'_

"I know, but I always miss you when I'm not with you," Hercules' honest answer melted her heart.

"I did miss you as well, you big lug," Meg wrapped her arms around him and he returned the hug eagerly.

"Where's Phil?" Hercules checked his surroundings, surprised not to see his old trainer.

"He made himself scarce, after noticing I was cooking. Something about some nymph. He obviously doesn't trust my cooking skills," Meg huffed, seeming amused.

"Oh, you haven't tried Phil's mom's cooking. Those are really… Something," Hercules replied, shaking his head.

"So, did you manage to save the day?" Meg asked him as she turned to stir the pot on the stove.

"I tried my best. The crops of the farmer were saved," Hercules replied her, drawing small circles in her back.

"That's my Wonderboy, always helping the people," Meg shot him a grin.

"Something smells amazing," Hercules then noted, hungry from the day's work.

"I knew you were hungry, so I made some meat stew. Go on, dig in," Meg replied and she didn't need to tell him twice.

The pair sat down to have dinner and Hercules was quite impressed: even if the stew was quite simple, it was very tasty and filling.

"This is really good, Meg. I didn't know you can cook," Hercules then complimented her, enjoying the meal Meg had prepared them.

"Well, I'm not really that good, but I'm glad if you like it. I've decided that I'll try to become a better cook," Meg told him, smiling almost timidly.

"I'll have to cook for you as well some time," Hercules replied, determined to return the favor.

"You can cook?" Meg always found new sides about her Wonderboy.

"Well, I make decent fish dishes. Queen Hippolyte's husband actually taught me how to cook," Herc told her, telling her the story about how he had entered the kingdom of Amazons and almost lost his life for it. And how he had learned to cook there as well.

"So, you had a thing for this Tempest, huh?" Meg gave him a knowing look.

"Well, I kinda liked her. She was tough and determined: in a way, she kinda reminds me of you. Not that she was as amazing as you are," Hercules told her sheepishly.

"So no reason for me to be jealous, huh?" Meg asked playfully.

"Meg, there's no one that has ever come even close to what you mean to me," Hercules placed his hand over hers across the table, giving her disarmingly sincere and honest look.

"Likewise, Wonderboy," Meg looked back at him, with a genuine smile on her face.

After they had finished the meal, they quickly cleaned the kitchen up together and moved to the atrium. They poured themselves some wine and moved to the divan, lounging there in each other's arms.

Hercules had his arms around Meg, who was pressed against his chest. He breathed in the scent of her hair, fully enjoying their closeness. Meg sighed, turning her head to face him and kissed him languidly. Hercules responded eagerly, tasting the wine and something he could only define as _Meg_ in her kiss. He deepened the kiss and Meg quietly moaned against his mouth. When they pulled away, her breathing had quickened and her eyes were a bit blurry.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" Hercules asked her, running his fingers through her hair.

"I think your opinion might be a bit biased," Meg laughed breathlessly back at him.

"No, when I first saw you, I thought you were most beautiful woman I had ever seen and I've seen Aphrodite herself. Back then, I didn't know of course that you're as beautiful from the inside as you are from the outside," Hercules told her, playing with a lock of her hair absent-mindedly.

"Back then I thought you were just pretending, I thought that nobody with your looks could actually be as good and kind as you are. I'm glad I was wrong," Meg then confessed.

"I know that Hades' motives were what they were, but in a way, I'm grateful for what he did: if he hadn't stole me as a child, and if I hadn't gone through all what I did, I might have never met you," Hercules ran his fingers softly on her cheek and Meg closed her eyes, thinking about his words.

Yes, it was quite ironic that Hades had stole Hercules as a child in order to kill him and much later she had become his slave: both were negative things, but because of it, the two of them had met. _Oh the irony of life._

"So we owe it to Hades for setting us up? But I get what you mean: we went through some awful stuff, but nevertheless, I'm glad for the outcome," Meg replied, still caught up thinking about all the irony what Hades had done and where it had led them.

"I know. No matter why it happened, I'm so glad I met you," Hercules tilted Meg's head and pulled her in for another kiss.

He felt as if he was unable to express in words how much he loved her. He ran his hand through her hair, still trying to fathom how he had got so lucky that she actually returned his feelings in equal measure.

"Meg, will you marry me?" He blurted out, surprising even himself. He hadn't been planning to do this now, tonight, but somehow the words just escaped his lips and he was left waiting for Meg's reply.

For once, Meg was left speechless. The part of her which didn't want to trust people told her to tell him no, to turn around and run away, never to return. But that part of her was nowadays only a small nagging voice: her heart was telling her to do otherwise, that this man was all that she could ever ask for. She had never felt this loved, safe and cherished: how could she turn away from it, even if it scared a part her to death?

After a moment of silence, Hercules started to babble on nervously: "I know it's soon, and if you don't feel like it-"

"Yes," Meg quietly breathed out.

"Yes what?" Hercules wasn't sure if he had understood correctly.

"Yes, I will marry you!" Meg laughed out.

"You will? You will! Oh Meg, I'm so glad! I've been wanting to ask that for a while now, it just never seemed to be the perfect time…" He pulled her into his arms, embracing her excitedly.

"So now's the perfect time, after talking about all Hades has done to us?" Meg couldn't resist a little teasing, which made her Wonderboy blush.

"Well, all this reminiscing just made me think about how much I love you and that I want to be with you. Like forever," His honest reply made Meg's cynical heart melt.

"I love you too, Wonderboy. And yes, I'll become your wife," Meg told him gently before he pulled her in for another kiss.

No matter what they faced, those matters might be mortal or divine, Meg wanted to believe that they could face them. Together.

* * *

A/N: Whew, some teeth-rotting sweetness provided right there for you guys! So, I'm actually quite nervous about this whole engagement thing happening already: I wasn't gonna make it happen quite in this chapter, but on the other hand, it just felt right. And we're talking about the ancient times, so people weren't really "dating" like we do before getting married. I tried to transmit how Herc just kinda rushes into these things, but Meg feels more conflicted. So I really hope this makes sense!

Few shout-outs for my guest reviewers:

VAH: I very happy to hear that you enjoy my fic and I've managed to capture the characters: yes, Meg is very complex, but I think that is exactly what makes her both interesting and relatable. To answer you question, I think for my own part, publishing these fics was something I've always wanted to do. Personally I decided starting from the beginning of this year, that I would do more things that bring me happiness and writing these stories is one of those things. For me, knowing that just one person really enjoys and looks forward to my stories would be enough: I think these stories are meant to shared and they are an important way of showing love for a certain fandom. So I would really be interested in reading your stories. :)

Nutmeg: I'm so happy you love my work (I love your nickname, btw)! Yes, I'll be continuing both of these fics for a while: I think Young God will have like 10 or maybe 12 chapters altogether, but I think Olympus will be going on for a quite a while (and when I say a while, I mean a _long_ while).


	7. Of Problematic Family Relations

**Chapter 7: Of Problematic Family Relations**

 _"You might not have been my first love_

 _but you were the love that made_

 _all the other loves irrelevant."_

 _\- Rupi Kaur_

* * *

The next morning, as Meg got up, Hercules was already chatting with Phil in the kitchen.

Wonderboy even more energetic than usually, happily babbling about some subject which was hard for Meg to grasp, especially since she had arrived in the middle of their conversation.

"What's up with the kid? He's like a hurricane of positivity this morning?" Phil addressed his question to Meg entering the room.

"Can't I be on good mood?" Hercules innocently asked and both Meg and Phil shared a knowing look.

"Fine, fine, I'll share the news with you. Last night, I asked Meg to marry me and she said yes!" Hercules happily exclaimed as he put his arm around Meg. Meg softly smiled at his enthusiasm. For a moment, almost a comical expression of surprise was left on Phil's face.

"You kids ain't wasting any time, are you? Well, considering you turned down an opportunity to become a part of the Pantheon for her, I guess any other turn of events would be strange. Congrats," Phil finally offered, slapping his student's leg.

"You too, sister," Phil then told her with a small smile. Meg smiled back, knowing that there wasn't luckily any bad blood between the two of them.

"I'm happy for you kids, I really am. Actually the timing couldn't be any more covenient: I was thinking of moving back to Idhra," Phil then shared his own news.

Meg squeezed Hercules' hand, the disappointment obvious on his face.

"Really? But… I thought…" Hercules stammered back, losing his ability to speak because of the surprise.

"What Wonderboy means is that are you sure? Have you thought this through?" Meg stepped in for him.

"Well, I'm a trainer of heroes and he obviously is one now. I mean, there's nothing more for me to teach for him. I can finally retire without any regrets as me and kid both were able to fulfill our dreams. Besides, you two need to start living your own life without an old grump like me hanging around," Phil jabbed.

"There's always room for one goatman," Meg smirked.

"But if that's what you wish to do, you should do it," she then offered.

"I can come visit here and you can come see me on Idhra. It's not like we won't never see again," Phil elaborated more gently, turning his attention back to Hercules, who had been uncharacteristically quiet since learning of his old trainer's plans.

"I know. It was just… A surprise," Hercules lamely replied.

"Kid, you're getting married: you know I ain't gonna stomach all that loveydovey stuff going around here! We'll still see each other," Phil patted his leg comfortingly.

"I know," Hercules then replied, with a small smile.

"Good. Now if you two will excuse me, I need to sort out some stuff. I mean, how much crap can one satyr gather in only one year or so?" Phil grumbled as he scurried to the direction of his room.

"Obviously more than enough," Meg replied, even though Phil obviously didn't hear her anymore.

"Are you gonna be okay with this?" Meg then asked of her fiancé, turning towards him.

"I… I guess," Hercules sighed. Meg felt bad for him: Phil had coached him for several years, and Phil not being there on a daily basis was a big change for Hercules.

"Hey, as Phil told you, you're still gonna see each other, yeah? Shouldn't we give Phil a proper farewell party tonight, we could go for dinner with Phil and celebrate our engagement at the same time?" Meg then offered and Hercules looked much more enthusiastic after her proposal.

"That's a great idea! I'm gonna tell Phil!" he gleamed, hurrying after his trainer. Meg stayed behind, lovingly shaking her head at her beloved.

And as agreed Hercules, Meg and Phil went for a dinner to the same restaurant where Hercules and Meg had visited during their first date. The meal was delicious and they had a good time: Meg politely decided to give more time for Hercules and his trainer to reminisce of their old adventures as Phil had decided to leave the very next morning. After the meal, Hercules suggested taking a walk, but Phil decided to head back to the villa to finish up his packing. He also pointed out that taking a romantic evening walk sounded suspiciously like something reserved only for lovebirds like Meg and Hercules.

So Hercules and Meg bid goodnight for Phil and the two of them went for a stroll to the same garden they had visited back at their first "date". Meg let out a small hum of amused as she realized they were almost re-creating their first date: luckily she didn't have to sit through another play made of her relative's tragic life.

Everything was lovely and wonderful and Wonderboy was as considerate as always, but Meg's mind was occupied with her past, with all the things she still hadn't shared with Hercules. It made Meg feel even worse for still hiding her past from him. From her fiancé, out of all things.

One of the reasons why she felt so hesitant was that she still hadn't leveled to her fiancé about her family history: she knew that Hercules was aware of that as well, but he didn't want to push her or make her talk before she herself felt ready. Meg was thankful for Hercules being always so kind and considerate. She knew she couldn't push the topic much longer though, she had already been avoiding it for far too long.

Hercules had also noticed that something was obviously on Meg's mind, but he didn't want to push it.

They were walking side by side their hands weaved together. How her small hands could fit his bigger ones so perfectly, he couldn't even fathom. It made him happy though, very happy: as if the Gods themselves had designed them for each other.

Meg's mind, however, was weighed down by her past and all the things she still hadn't told Hercules.

"Meg, honey, something on your mind? You have been pretty absent today," Hercules gently asked her.

"I'm sorry Wonderboy. This evening was wonderful, YOU were wonderful. I feel that I need to tell you about my past and I don't even know where to begin," Meg sighed. Truly, with her family history, where could she even begin with?

"Start wherever you want to, okay?" Hercules guided her to sit with him to fountain they almost had their first kiss on, if Phil and Pegasus hadn't intervened so convienently.

Meg sighed and decided to comply. _'Here goes nothing,_ ' she thought to herself.

"It's about my family. I haven't told you about my family and how I ended up working for Hades," Meg then guietly told him, knitting her fingers nervously together. Hercules took her hands on his own, quietly stroking them, trying his best to comfort her.

"They say Gods themselves put a curse on the throne of Thebes. And so it really seems. Two of my brothers, Menoceus and Lycomedes, died during the uprising after king Oedipus had fled and his sons were fighting for the throne. Third one of my brothers, Andreus, was killed by the Sphinx and Haimon, eldest of my brothers, killed himself after my father had punished his fiancée. Her fiancée, Antigone, hanged herself and it was my brother who found her. He couldn't take it, so he killed himself after that. My mother, Eurydiche, had lost all her sons in a short period of time. She was so strucken by her grieve, so she decided to kill herself and succeeded in that," Meg told him with a trembling voice. Hercules already felt bad for her as well as for her family, but also mad: how could his Olympian family punish one family so harshly? Why would they put Meg and her family through all that?

"My father changed after the deaths of his sons and his wife. He had always been a stubborn man, but now he became obsessed with getting his daughters married to good allies. He isolated himself from me and my sisters, Henioche and Pyrrha. My grandmother was there, but she was occupied with my father. As I was the oldest of the daughters, I was left to take care of my younger sisters. I was barely a child myself and I had just lost my mother and my brothers: it was too much of a burden to me. My childhood home started to feel like a prison and all I could think of was getting out of there. As some years went by, my father was more and more obsessed with finding a suitable husband for me. I was scared that he would just marry me off to someone who would treat me as his property," Meg paused for a moment, struggling to continue. She felt Hercules' hand caressing her own and she somehow found the strength to continue.

I was stuck in this situation and I had been very lonely for many years when I met in one of the parties this man. He wasn't of any royal origin, just a son of one of my father's generals, he's name was Alesandro. I mistook his flattering words for love and I foolishly thought that meeting him would change my life. That I wouldn't have to feel so alone anymore. My father, of course, didn't approve of him and told me that if I wanted to be with him, I would have to leave my childhood home and never return. Arrogantly, I did so. I left and never went back. Not even long after that, Alesandro got sick, terminally ill, and in order to save him, I made this deal with Hades: he would cure my boyfriend's illness and have my soul instead. After the deal, I found out that Alesandro had already forgotten about me and found himself a new girl to toy with. Turns out he was initially interested in me because I was king Creon's eldest daughter and he had thought that by marrying me, he would get closer to the throne of Thebes. As I was scorn by my family and property of Hades, I was of no use to him. Quite some time after that, I met you," Meg quietly sighed.

She had never told these things to anybody. She had been so angry and ashamed: most of all, because of her own stupidity and naivety. _What was it with this garden that she always had to spill her guts here?_ On one hand, it felt good to get it out of her chest, but on the other hand, she couldn't help but wonder how Hercules would feel about her after all she had told him? How could he feel the same? After all, she had her share of bad decisions and mistakes.

Hercules had patiently waited for her to finish her story and then he wrapped his hand around her and pulled her close.

"I'm so sorry to hear all that, Meg. All those things you been through, along with your family. I understand that telling this can't be easy," Hercules quietly murmured.

Even through all her negative feelings Meg had to smile: why was she so worried about how he would react when he was always so understanding and forgiving? She closed her eyes, feeling better knowing that at least now she wasn't alone anymore, that she had someone who she could always count on. Then she realized she had forgot to tell probably the most important piece of information concerning her family to her fiancé.

"There's one more thing you need to know, Hercules. My father is king Creon of Thebes," Meg told him, already anticipating his reaction.

For a moment Hercules' mind was blank. Then he remembered all the tales he had heard about king Creon's life and the many tragedies he had faced. He had met the king himself quite a few times; he was a tall and handsome man, though age and many sorrows had left their mark on his face.

 _'So king Creon is Meg's father?'_ he wondered, amazed.

On the other hand, he couldn't feel too surprised to find this out about Meg: there had always been something in the way she carried herself, in her presence, in her confidence, the way she could express herself verbally that made her stand out from the rest of the people. Hercules than realized that Meg was still waiting for his reply, obviously anxious.

"So you are a…" Hercules begin, but Meg frantically shook her head: "Please don't say it."

"…Princess?" Hercules finished his sentence and Meg cringed.

"I've always hated that title. Please don't call me that," she pleaded.

"I won't. But does that mean when I first took you out for a date, to watch that play about Oedipus, it was actually about your family member?" Hercules winced as he realized the mistake he had unknowingly made.

"Um, yeah. Oedipus was my cousin. Well, to be exact my cousin and _my uncle_ at the same time. Queen Jocasta, his mother and later on his wife, was my aunt, as she was my father's sister," Meg replied, looking uneasy.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I had no idea…" Hercules winced as he realized the real reason why Meg had seemed so uneasy during that play. Well, that, and also the fact that she had been unwillingly worked for Hades back then.

"You didn't know. I was a little girl when all that happened, so I don't remember much of it. Lucky me," Meg scoffed.

"Well, that certainly is one problematic family history and I know all about them. But Meg, just so you know: this won't change a thing for my part. This doesn't change how I feel about you, Meg. You been through a lot, way too much if you ask me. We can't change our families and we can't change our pasts either. You always see me as the person I am, not as some hero or the son of Zeus, as other people do. You might be a princess by birthright or daughter of king Creon, but for me, you are Meg, the smartest and bravest person I've met. I love you for the person you are," Hercules than told her, drawing comforting circles on her back.

Meg threw herself to his embrace, relieved to know that his perspective on her hadn't change. And as he held her, the tears Meg had been suppressing for years now finally came. And he held her in his arms as she cried, quietly stroking her hair and occasionally pressing some kisses on the top of her head.

* * *

Meanwhile, the mount Olympus was in the state of disarray.

A lot of Gods were holding a secret meeting unbeknownst to Zeus: neither Hera nor Hermes had been invited to the meeting, as the Gods feared they would tell everything to the Lord of the Gods himself.

"This is obnoxious! Me, forced to ask a permission, when I want to start a war!" Ares exclaimed, hitting the table with his fist.

"What did that poor table ever do to you? Besides, dear brother of mine, some of us have real motives to intervene in mortal affairs," snickered Athena who, for some unfathomable reason, was seated beside her brother and worst enemy, Ares.

"Hah! And what would that be?" Ares crossed his hands, glaring at his sister.

"Like helping the humankind?" Athena pointed out and Ares rolled his eyes at her.

"Could you stop your bickering and concentrate on the matter? What are we going to do about this?" Apollo frowned at his two fellow Gods and tried to steer the conversation back to the real matter.

"Maybe we won't have to do anything," Hephastus quietly pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Apollo gave him a questioning look.

"Zeus cannot possibly handle all alone matters concerning both Olympus and Earth at the same time. Sooner or later, he will make a mistake," Hephastus continued, looking at other Gods who still tried to grasp his meaning.

"Zeus has made many mistakes, why would this time be any different?" Aphrodite, his fiancée, pulled her hand through her pretty blonde hair as she frowned.

"Darlin', we're talking 'bout mistake of cosmic consequences. _Major_ cosmic consequences," Artemis, the huntress, drawled.

"Meaning what?" Poseidon shot a questioning look at Hephastus, but before he could answer, Apollo spoke again gravely: "Meaning, that when the Lord of Olympus isn't up to his task, we must choose a new one."

Poseidon rubbed his finned hands together, excited at the prospect, obviously already imagining himself as the new Lord of Olympus.

"That would be such a shame, really," Demeter, the Goddess of Harvest, sighed and shook her head in motherly fashion.

"Yes, indeed. But we must do what has to be done, if the situation comes to it," Apollo concluded and called an end to their meeting. The Gods separated to their own ways, eager to attend their personal affairs.

One of the deities had remained silent during the meeting and after it came to an end, she too had her personal affairs to attend: however, she took a direction unlike any other God. She was going to the Underworld, to see Hades himself.

Hades, who was still under the cosmic curfew his brother Zeus had put him under, didn't expect any visitors. Especially not _her_. Her skin was purple and her black hair whipped around her, almost like she had been caught in an invisible storm. Two living snakes were coiled around her wrists, moving relentlessly in her arms.

"Eris, babe! Long time no see! How's the world, you know, _in literally anywhere else but here_?" Hades didn't even bother trying to mask the bitterness in his voice as he greeted the arriving Goddess.

Making him prisoner of his own kingdom was truly a fitting punishment for his deeds. Hades would have found it almost clever in any other circumstances and would have enjoyed talking to any other God but his buffoon like older brother.

"Seems to revolve well enough without you," Eris pointed out, squinting the slits of her eyes even smaller as she studied was Hades had been doing when she arrived.

Hades had pulled his old strategy table out and he had been in the middle of planning the attack of his and Cybele's army of not-so-living soldiers when Eris had arrived on her unannounced visit.

"Hah, I was just practicing some tactics, want to keep the old fruitbasket sharp," Hades quickly explained as he followed her gaze. Eris looked at him without saying anything, yet it was obvious enough that she didn't believe a word he was telling her.

"You do what you do, it matters not for me," she dismissed and her voice sounded so deprecating, that it alone almost made Hades loose his temper. But than she continued: "I bring news from mount Olympus. Something you might find interesting."

"I guessed your visit wasn't made out of courtesy. Go on then, spill the beans, babe," Hades circled around her.

"Zeus has restricted the powers of the Gods. This has made them… Angry. They are waiting for a something major to happen so they can choose a new God to become the new lord or the lady of Olympus," Eris carefully explained as she studied Hades, waiting for his reaction.

Hades could not contain his glee: he had waited eons for this to happen. For his ' _oh so high and mighty'_ brother to fall from the grace face first! Ha, that would serve him right! He knew that he himself wasn't high on the ranking list when it came to the possible ruler candidates, but just seeing his brother's failure would be enough for him. _Weeell_ , almost enough for him: he could always work his way up. He was a patient God: he would find one way or another.

And talking about the major cosmic happenings… He smirked as he rubbed his fingers together.

"I might have just the thing up my sleeve," Hades' hair was burning red-hot because of his excitement.

"I had the feeling that you might say that," Eris looked completely unsurprised.

"Why would you come all the way here and tell me this? You got some beef with my brother?" Hades was starting to reconsider the reasons why Eris would so kindly provide all this information for him without wanting anything.

"Your brother doesn't really matter: for me, he is insignificant. He might rule, then again, so might someone else. You forget something essential here: I am the Goddess of chaos and strife. I feed on things like these. I would flourish if something of this scale would happen," Eris smiled malevolently.

"Well, gotta keep the good looks up, I get that. Eris, babe, I owe you one: don't be a stranger," Hades smiled back at her in a similar manner before the Goddess took off.

Then he turned back to his table, planning to refine his plans. Oh yes, this would be _so much more fun_ than he had first thought.

* * *

A/N: Phew, is it me or did just ton of things happen in this chapter? So Phil is leaving and Meg finally told Hercules about her past: how do we feel of all these things? And I hope the Olympian Gods won't seem too scheming: I just feel that this is how they would react in a situation like this (after all, they did turn their backs on Zeus in the episode _Hercules and Apollo Mission_ as well). And why is writing Hades always so much fun?

I try to maintain my routine of updating my stories once a month, but oh boy, work life has been hard lately. Next week, I'm going for a work-related trip and after that, I'm finally starting my summer vacation!

Thank you for all my readers and reviewers, special shout-out to Nutmeg: Strap in, we're in for a long ride. ;)


	8. Of Saying Goodbyes and Hellos

**Chapter 8: Of Saying Goodbyes and Hellos**

 _"Heart, don't fail me now._  
 _Courage, don't desert me._  
 _Don't turn back now that we're here._  
 _People always say_  
 _Life is full of choices._  
 _No one ever mentions fear!_  
 _Or how the world can seem so vast_  
 _On a journey to the past."_

 _\- Journey To The Past_ in Anastasia

* * *

The next morning, Meg, Hercules & Pegasus had went to escort Phil to the docks. Hercules had offered a ride with Pegasus to Phil's island, but as Phil pointed out, traveling by a ship was much easier with all his luggage. He had taken a cart-lift to the docks of Chalcis as Hercules and Meg had traveled there with Pegasus.

The cargo had already been loaded to the ship and by the frantic calling of the sailors, Meg could tell that the time to bid farewell was at hand. She stayed a bit back in order to give more space to Hercules and his old coach.

"Come here, kid," Phil motioned to Hercules, who knelt before his trainer and his friend.

"I'm gonna miss you, Phil," Hercules genuinely told him.

"Likewise, kid, likewise. Just don't go all sappy on me, okay?" Phil told him, his eyes suspiciously moist and shiny. Then he went to pat on Pegasus, who nudged him back with his snout.

"Okay, your turn missy, c´mere," Phil invited Meg closer with his hand.

Meg knelt down, hugging the goat-man.

"Just don't get him any trouble, okay, miss?" Phil patted her shoulder.

"Hey, you guys got yourselves in plenty of trouble even before I was around!" Meg objected.

"True, that we did," for a moment, Phil shared a smile and an eye-contact with Hercules.

"Don't make your fur turn grey because of worry, I'm sure Wonderboy and I can handle," Meg got up, glancing at her boyfriend who came to stand next to her, placing his arms around her.

"I'm counting more on you than him on that matter," Phil muttered and Hercules injected: "Hey!"

"You are talking about me, the girl who sold her soul to Hades?" Meg gave Phil an incredulous look.

"Good point. I guess that means I should worry, after all," Phil grunted with frustration.

"I was just kidding, just get going, we'll be fine!" Meg fondly shook her head.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going, princess," Phil snickered back at her.

Meg looked at Hercules who had suspiciously innocent look on his face.

"You told him? When did have time?" Meg asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Erm, this morning?" Hercules scratched his head sheepishly.

"He's never gonna forget that new nickname, won't he?" Meg sighed as they watched as Phil boarded the ship.

"Most likely not," Hercules agreed.

They watched silently as the ship started moving, Phil waving at them from the deck with his handkerchief. Hercules had his arms still wrapped around her and Meg placed her own has on his, trying to offer him some comfort.

"I'm gonna miss him," Hercules sighed.

"I know. I would have never believed that I would say this, but so will I," Meg replied to him.

After another moment of silence, Hercules timidly asked:

"So, have you thought about… You know… Going to meet your family?"

For a moment, Meg remained silent. Then she sighed.

"Yes, I have thought about it. For many times. I'm just not sure if I'm ready, if I'll ever be ready. We have our own issues and especially my father is a handful," Meg then told him.

"I know. It's just… That they're your family. I mean, if you're not sure if you'll ever feel any more ready, than shouldn't you… Just give it a try?" Hercules tried to reason with her.

Meg sighed again: she too had not so long ago shared a similar piece of advice with him. And he was right: waiting for the right moment wouldn't help in the end, it would just keep her procrastinating on what she would eventually had to face.

"I mean, I don't want to force you…" Hercules stammered, but Meg interrupted.

"No, you're right. Let's just go now, before I come into my senses and change my mind," Meg told him sternly, anxiousness already creeping up from the pit of her stomach.

"I'll be right here with you, hon," Hercules placed a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

After giving it a lot of thought, Meg had decided that it was the time for her to finally face her family. Hercules, always encouraging her, had decided to come with her for a moral support. Without his presence, Meg wasn't sure if she would be able to pass the gates of the royal palace.

After a short ride on Pegasus (Meg felt as if it went by way too quickly, even if she still didn't enjoy the heights too much), they reached the royal palace. There were guards on the gates who immediately stopped them as they landed.

"Halt! Who wishes to enter the gates?" the guard seemed quite young, someone who hadn't been working there when Meg was still living in the palace.

"Stop it Perocles, don't you know who this is? It is her royal highness, princess Megara. It is so good to see you, Your Highness," the other guard bowed before her and even with the helmet on, Meg knew who it was.

"Pittheus, you don't need to kneel before me," Meg then told the giant for a man.

"Your Highness, the Gods are finally smiling upon us if they have returned you," the guard now removed his helmet and placed a kiss on her hand. Pittheus was feared for his size and gruesome appearance, but Meg knew he had a kind and loyal heart. Pittheus had always been looking after her when she was growing up and she knew the old warrior had a soft spot for her in his heart.

"It is good to see you too, Pittheus," Meg placed her hand on top of his.

"This is my fiancé, Hercules. We wish to see my father," Meg introduced her hero to the elderly guard, who obviously was measuring him with his eyes. Even Hercules was shorter than Pittheus, who was said to be a decedent of the great giants. After few agonizing moments, Pittheus nodded his head.

"I would normally say that nobody is good enough for our princess, but I have heard great deal of you, son of Zeus," he then acknowledged. Hercules sighed inwardly: somehow he had the feeling that he didn't want to be on the bad side of this man.

"His Highness the king is in the throne room, you may go there," Pittheus told them.

After entering the gates, Meg and Hercules arrived to the courtyard filled with greenery. Meg breathed in the air filled with scent of thyme and honeysuckle: even if she hadn't really missed living in the palace, she had missed the gardens and smelling this scent.

"It's beautiful in here," Hercules remarked, taking his surroundings in. He had visited the palace before, but he hadn't really paid attention to its details back then. Now that he knew that this was where Meg had grown up, he saw things in a different perspective.

"It is. I have missed the gardens. It's a shame that this place isn't open to public any more," Meg remarked as she studied the place. The area itself seemed rather quiet, only few people passing through the courtyard: most people would avoid moving around in the scorching hot mid-day sun, but as these people were obviously working for the palace, they didn't really have a choice.

"What happened?" Hercules asked, furrowing his brows.

"Well, during the days of king Oedipus, the courtyard and the gardens of the palace were open to the common people of Thebes. But after he died, there was unrest. An uprising, really, which lead to bloody battles. Two of my brothers were killed during those battles, as well as both sons of king Oedipus himself. That's how my father came to rule and he made the decision to close off all the areas of the palace from the common people 'for our protection', or so he said. Well, it felt more like a prison. Nowadays you get only access to the palace if you either belong to the court, work for the palace or you have to have direct business with the king himself," Meg recounted the facts, her eyes distant and sad.

"That sounds terribly lonely," Hercules frowned.

"Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Come on, let's move on," Meg pressed on, taking his hand to hers.

After passing the gardens, Meg and Hercules finally reached the palace and entered there. Nobody tried to stop them and Meg wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed: she wasn't still sure if she was ready to meet her father.

Meg lead them to the direction of the throne room, but quite a few times they were stopped by the servants of the royal palace who obviously recognized Meg. They were enthusiastic to greet their long-lost princess, overjoyed to see her once again. Their joyous faces and body-language told Hercules more than thousand words: whatever had happened between Meg and her family members, the servants of the royal palace still held her dear.

After trekking their way to the entrance of the throne room, Meg felt her courage faltering. Hercules took her hand on his own and squeezed it gently.

"I'm right here with you, okay?" He then told her gently.

"Okay," Meg replied and breathed in deeply before opening the doors.

The throne room was dimly lit, but Meg could still see how much her father had aged in these past few years. There was more gray then black in his hair now and his face was much more wrinkly than before.

The king rose his gaze at the two of them and was taken aback when he saw who had entered the throne room.

"Eurydice, my love, is it really you? Have you returned back to me?" the king descended from his throne and with a few hasty steps, he rushed to Meg, raising his trembling hand at her cheek.

"No father, it is me, Megara. Your daughter," Meg carefully explained after seeing how confused her father seemed.

"Oh. _Oh._ By Gods, Megara, is it really you? You've grown up, you look just so much like your mother, even more so than before," the king breathed out in shock as he scrutinized her.

"Yes father, it is me," Meg quietly told him. The king took his long-lost daughter in his arms. Meg fought back tears: how much had he aged since she had last seen him? She had thought she would never see her father again. After a moment, his father pulled back to inspect her.

"Oh Megara, you are all grown up. I can't believe how much you look like your mother. I have so many regrets about the last time we saw each other, my child," he quietly told her.

"Me too, father," Megara told him with a timid smile.

Now the king finally noticed that his daughter wasn't alone and he did recognize the young man.

"Ah, Hercules! So it is you who found my daughter! How can I repay you this?" the king then asked him.

"Oh, it's not quite like that, your Highness," Hercules replied nervously.

"No father, he didn't 'find' me. I decided to come here on my own, but he did encourage me. You see, he's my fiancé. We're engaged and we want to get married," Megara took Hercules' hand to her own, explaining the situation to her father.

"Engaged? Put you haven't got my permission!" the king seemed perplexed. Meg sighed: she had been fearing for something this.

"Father, I'm a big girl now and all grown up as you said yourself, I don't need a permission to get engaged," Meg told him sternly.

The king sighed, rubbing his temples with his fingers. Megara had just returned and already she was rebelling against him, once again.

"I know that you, Hercules, are a good man and the son of Zeus himself. But Megara here is my eldest daughter: she's the crown princess, so the future of my house is on her shoulders. I need her to marry an ally of mine, an heir or a king to another throne, to ensure the future generations and right alliances," king Creon started to explain, but Meg stopped him there, feeling her blood boiling.

"I'm not some piece of your personal collection you can sell to the highest bidder! We love each other and we WILL marry, with or without your consent!" Meg placed her hands on her hips, fuming.

"I see that you still don't know your place. We will discuss this later, right now I have a splitting headache and this discussion isn't doing me any good. I shall retire now, but we will talk about this later on, Megara," her father warned her before leaving the room, looking obviously worn out.

For a moment Megara felt bad that she had just met her father and already were they fighting each other. Before she could contemplate more on it, an elderly woman approached her from the corner of the room.

"Oh my love, my goodness how much have you grown! You're a woman now!" The elderly queen-mother who Hercules had previously encountered, hurried to Meg's side and closed her into an embrace.

"Grandma! I've missed you!" Meg's eyes were filled with tears as she hugged the woman tightly.

"I've missed you too, my love. So very much," the queen-mother whispered back, tears filling her eyes as well.

"I'm worried about father: he didn't recognize me. He thought I was mother, even though she passed away many years ago!" Meg confided to her grandmother.

"Your father's situation is worrisome, I agree. But we'll discuss about it later on. So, I see it is the strapping young Hercules who convinced you to return," Harmonia eyed the young hero, who felt more than a little uneasy because of her comment.

"I've heard that you two have already met," Meg also looked back to her fiancé with the mischief she shared with her grandmother in her eyes.

"It is a pleasure to meet again, your Highness…" Hercules begun, but the queen-mother shrugged it off.

"Oh nonsense, boy! As Megara's betrothed, you are basically part of the family now!" She told him and then nudged Meg: "He really is a sight for a sore eye! You did catch the most handsome man out there for yourself, didn't you?" Hercules felt the hotness spreading on his cheeks: he was not sure how he was supposed to take in the fact that Meg's grandmother _(the queen-mother_ ) was complimenting his looks?

"Oh stop it, grandma! You're making him blush!" Meg laughed back.

"Alright, alright dear, if you say so. So you're wishing to marry my granddaughter?" Harmonia's gaze seemed to pierce right through him. He had nothing to hide so he let her evaluate him.

"Yes, madam," he solemnly replied.

Harmonia seemed to come in to some sort of conclusion as she nodded to herself.

"Meg, dear, would you mind going to find your sisters? They'll be in the gardens. There's some things I wish to discuss with your fiancé here," Harmonia told Meg, who knew that it was an order and not just a request. She gave Hercules' hand a comforting squeeze before she left the two of them alone.

Harmonia's gaze stayed fixed upon Meg's receding form as she confided to Hercules: "I probably shouldn't say this, but Megara has always been my favorite from all of my grandchildren." She sighed softly.

"What was she like when she was growing up?" Hercules asked, wishing to know more about the woman he loved.

"Stubborn, the most stubborn child I have ever seen," Harmonia replied and they both laughed: that was still her most typical character trait.

"I can imagine that," Hercules chuckled.

"I have often thought that Meg would have been happier if she was born as a man: she never wanted to be a princess and a wallflower. She was always dreaming of a life away from the palace and going for adventures. The palace life was like a curse to her, it was her golden cage," Harmonia sighed.

"I can only imagine," Hercules mumbled, trying to picture the past of his beloved. Harmonia nodded solemnly.

"She and her father were constantly fighting: he couldn't stand her rebelling attitude. She on the other hand couldn't stand the thought that he would decide what her fate should be. Especially since Megara's brothers passed away and her mother killed herself, the things got out of hand. Meg had too much pressure as she was expected to look after her sisters. She herself was the one who found her dead mother's body. A terrible sight it was. Poor Megara, I will never forget the way she cried when they took her away from her mother's body. Besides all that, after her brother's passing, the continuation of our royal house was placed upon Meg's shoulders. Creon was obsessed on getting her married to a good house. Meg didn't want to be part of that, she didn't want to be a pawn in their game of power, but Creon had decided to marry her off. All those candidates were much older than Meg, some were even older than king Creon himself," Harmonia sighed again as she continued with her story. Hercules felt a chill in his spine: even though Meg had told him of her past, he had no idea that things had really been that bad.

"That's… Horrible," he quietly commented.

"Yes, yes it was," Harmonia shook her head.

"That's why she eventually ran away, and I thought I would never see her again. I am so happy to see my grand-daugther again. Thank you for bringing her back," Harmonia's eyes were filled of tears and Hercules' took her hand to his own.

"It was her own decision to make, coming back here. Of course, I'm happy that Meg got to meet you again. And I'm happy to meet you again as well," Hercules told her kindly.

"You are a good man and I know that you will make my dear Meg very happy. I'm sure that my son Creon will find that out eventually as well," Harmonia told him and he could only wish that she would be right.

"Come, let's go to see Meg and her sisters," Harmonia then instructed, making her way to the gardens and Hercules followed her.

* * *

As Meg trekked down the path in the gardens, she knew exactly where she would find her sisters: in the shade of the apple trees, it had been their favorite spot while growing up.

As she reached her destination, she found Henioche reading a scroll aloud to her younger sister and Pyrrha was practicing her needlework: deducting from her distressed face, Pyrrha did not enjoy the task in her hand. They both raised their gaze as they heard her footsteps and the awestruck looks on their faces would have been funny, if Meg hadn't been feeling so touched herself to finally see her sisters again.

"Megara? Is it really you?" Henioche rose to meet her.

"Yes, it is really me, sister," Meg replied, moving to embrace her sister.

Her sister embraced her back fiercely.

"Oh how I've missed you," she then told her.

"I've missed you too," Meg replied, embracing her back.

After pulling away, Henioche inspected her looks and furrowed her pretty brows: "You look like a peasant in those clothes."

"That's a nice thing to say to your sister after seeing her first time in years!" Meg laughed back.

Then both of them turned to look at Pyrrha, waiting for her reaction.

"So you're back now, huh?" Pyrrha, the youngest of the sisters, simply asked.

"Yes I am," Meg gently told her, reaching towards her youngest sister with her hand.

"Why now? You abandoned us for years and now you think you can just return and everything is somehow okay because of that?" There were tears in Pyrrha's eyes and she was obviously mad at her older sister.

"Pyrrha, I'm really sorry, I…" Meg started, but her sister furiously shook her head.

"Don't. Just don't," she choked out, before turning away and running to the direction of the palace.

"Give Pyrrha some time, it was really hard for her when you left," Henioche gently placed a comforting hand to her sister's shoulders. Meg sighed and nodded.

At this point, Hercules and queen-mother Harmonia had found their way to the sisters as well.

"Henioche, I want you meet my fiancé, Hercules," Meg was glad to see her beloved there (and her grandmother hadn't obviously been too hard on him, as he still seemed to be in one piece) and pulled him to her side. Henioche's eyes widened in surprise.

"That Hercules, as if the _great hero Hercules_?" Henioche made sure, eyeing the man before her as if she could not believe her own eyes.

"Yes Henioche, THAT Hercules," Meg rolled her eyes to her sister.

"OH MY GODS," was all Henioche managed to get out before she placed her hands to her face, trying to contain her own excitement.

"Seems like my sister is one of your fans," Meg stated driely and Hercules felt a blush creeping on his neck.

"It is good to meet you, princess Henioche," Hercules gently told her. The princess had a black curly hair and blue eyes, and she was pale, yet strongly built. Even though she and Meg had some resemblance between them, she had obviously taken more after their father.

Henioche silently nodded, still not believing that her idol was standing before her. Harmonia shook her head and placed her hands on Henioche's shoulders.

"All right dear, don't you have some history lessons you need to learn? I know there's still at least one place Megara wants to visit," Harmonia gently smiled at her eldest grand-daugther.

Meg solemnly nodded: she needed to visit the catacombs and the graves of her mother and brothers.

* * *

Meg and Hercules had descended down to the royal catacombs and air there was stale, yet a lot cooler than it was outside in the sun. They had passed before each of Meg's brother's graves: Menoceus, Lycomedes, Andreus and Haimon.

Now, they had finally reached the grave of Meg's mother, Eurydice. There was a statue of her graved in the stone and just by judging the statue, Hercules could tell that Meg had most taken after her mother in her looks. Queen Eurydice had been a beautiful woman, looking much like Meg.

Meg was on her knees and her shoulders were trembling. It was obvious that she was crying. After all, it had been a hard day for her. Hercules felt bad for her, facing it all during that one day. Also he felt more than a little guilty: after all, coming to the palace had been his suggestion.

Hercules knelt down next to her, taking her in his arms. Meg kept crying against his chest and he gently stroked her back. Lately, Meg had been crying far too much for her own taste, but on the other hand, meeting her past had been every bit as painful as she had feared. But it needed to be done, if she wished to move forward.

"She hates me, you know?" Meg quietly told Hercules.

"Who does?" Hercules gently asked, still gently stroking her back.

"My youngest sister, Pyrrha. You didn't even meet her, because she ran away from me," Meg sighed sadly.

Harmonia had told Hercules that Henioche was quite mature for a sixteen-year-old girl (well, _mostly_ ), but Pyrrha on the other hand was moody and introverted. Though she was younger, only fourteen, but she had mostly closed herself up after Meg had left the palace. Harmonia had also confided to him what had happen to Meg's brothers: how two of them were killed in the battles which took place after the death of king Oedipus, how the sphinx had killed one of them and how the eldest, Haemon, had killed himself after the death of his fiancée Antigone. Their family history was grim: Hercules didn't wonder at all why returning back to palace had been so hard for Meg.

"Give her time. This is a big change for her as well. You are still sisters and she'll come around eventually, okay honey?" Hercules placed a kiss on the top of his fiancée's head.

They still had a lot to work out, as it seemed that king Creon would not come around easily either. It seemed like stubbornness was one of the character traits that was most common in Meg's family. But still, he had faith that they could sort it out somehow. He had found then woman he loved and cherished, and if he wouldn't let even the death tear them apart: dealing with her family would be the easy part.

Or so he hoped.

* * *

-A/N: Well, that was way too long for one chapter, but I wanted to include all that to one chapter. That was pretty emotional, wasn't it? Thanks for reading, favorites and comments keep me going! Kudos!


	9. Of Nightly Visitors And Fears

**Nightly Visitors and Fears**

 _"I should welcome yesterday and leave the ache and pain away, you say_  
 _This life give me many tears, and now my dreams are full of fears."_

 _\- Memories Fall_ by Dark Sarah

* * *

When they finally made their way back home, Meg almost tripped while entering the front-door because of her exhaustion. Hercules, her vigilant hero, was luckily there to catch her as always.

"Oops, careful honey," he gently told her as he helped her back at her feet.

"Sorry, I should look where I'm going, I'm just so… Tired," she tried her best to fight back her yawn.

"You should go lay down, hon," Hercules gently took her in his arms and carried her all the way to their bedroom. He gently placed her in the bed, removing her sandals and tucking her under the bed-sheets. He placed a kiss on her forehead and whispered to her: "Try to get some sleep, you've had a hard day. I'll join you in a bit, okay honey?"

"Okay," she muttered back before drifting into sleep. Hercules smiled to himself, studying her sleeping form for a moment. 'By Gods, how can anyone be as beautiful as she is?' His hand lingered on her cheek as he pondered on that question once more. Then he headed to the hallway, deciding to make some tea for himself before heading to sleep.

* * *

In her sleep, Meg was wandering in the halls of her childhood home. The palace was dark and empty and she felt as if there was something lurking in the shadows, following her every step. As she started to run, whatever was following her, started speeding up as well, following her trail. She saw tendrils of black smoke and gasped -

As Meg woke up, her heart was racing and her breathing was shallow. As she looked around the dark room, she saw yellow eyes flickering in the corner of dark room.

"Hades," she breathed out, not even surprised to find him there.

"Surprised, babe?" he leered at her.

"Not really, even if watching me sleep is a new low even for you," Meg replied, feeling already agitated. What in the name of Tartarus was _he_ doing here?

"Sorry to disturb your beauty sleep, my sweetest Nutmeg. Just checking up on you," he replied, moving closer to her.

Meg felt the dread spreading all over her as she smelt the all too familiar scent of sulfur surrounding him. What was he doing?

Before she had a chance to do anything, Hades was pulled away from her. Even if Hades was taller than Hercules, Meg was impressed as he was more than capable of lifting Hades up so the deity was left tangling from Herc's iron grip.

"What do you want, Hades?!" He demanded, irked to see the Lord of the Dead still at the tail of his girlfriend.

"Oi, let me down you ox of a man! Shouldn't you be holding your girlfriend instead?" Hercules let him fall down, moving closer to Meg, taking her into his arms.

As Hades was arranging his chiton, he was eyeing the two of them, tangled in each others arms.

"Really Meg, Jerkules, out of all the man out there," he arched his eyebrow at her.

"Yes Hades, really. As a matter, we're engaged to get married," Meg replied him with a defiant look.

"Is that so? So you're happy ending is paving out well? Just remember, Meg my sweet: only heroes get their happy endings, and you my dear, you're not a hero: you're a villain. Just like me," he smiled wickedly, shoving his pointy, yellowed teeth. Meg felt the dread once again seeping in and she instantly pulled closer to Hercules, who wrapped his arm tighter around her.

"With your history, a disaster is just waiting to happen. So enjoy this while it lasts," Hades once again smirked at them and before Hercules could do anything, he had disappeared, leaving behind only a burnt mark where he had been standing.

"Damn him," Hercules muttered to himself, pulling Meg even closer to himself.

"Well, as he is the current lord of the Underworld, I think it's safe to say his already as damned as one can be," Meg wearily replied back.

"You okay, honey?" He then asked her, studying her appearance with a worried eye.

"I'm alright, nothing new there. I got little freaked out to find out that Hades enjoys watching me sleep," Meg got chills just thinking about it. How long had he been back? Did he watch her other times as well (Meg did not want to dwell in those details)?

"Hades is a creep. And obviously a sore loser. What he said about you Meg, it's not true. You are a hero and you deserve to be happy," Hercules told her, running his hand in her hair. She tried to smile back at him, even though the thought would not leave her head: What did Hades want? He obviously had something in his mind, but what was it exactly?

Even though her tiredness, the sleep had evaded Meg mostly for the rest of the night. Judging from how he was tossing around, Hercules himself had hard time getting some sleep as well, even if he normally fell asleep like a log the moment his head hit the pillow.

At the crack of the dawn, Meg got up and made some tea for herself. She went outside, sitting on the bench facing the sea and watching the sun rising from the east. At least Apollo was up besides herself. And apparently Hercules as well was already up as he made his way to her, placing a blanket on her shoulders. It was still chilly outside, Meg was grateful for the warmth. As he sat next to her, she leaned against him, closing her eyes.

"Trouble sleeping last night?" Hercules more stated than asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I kept you awake as well," Meg replied, feeling slightly guilty.

"At least now I can enjoy the sunrise with my favorite person in the world," he gently told her and gently placed a kiss on the top of her head. For some reason, Meg felt tears invading her eyes. After the day before and the evening following that day, Meg had been awake most for the mind with her own negative thoughts to keep her company. The positive outlook Hercules had in life never seized to amaze Meg.

"Oh Wonderboy, you're way too kind. That is one of the things I love the most about you," Meg then told him, still leaning against him with her teary eyes closed.

"Yeah? What are those other things, then?" Hercules smiled timidly, wrapping his arm around her waist. Sometimes he still had hard time understanding why Meg wanted to be with him. Sometimes all he could see were his own faults, so why would she choose to be with someone like him?

"Well, you're also kind and you never give up. I do like all this hero stuff, but it is your personality that I love. That you choose to see the best in people, and that even in tough situations you never back down," Meg told him, a soft smile on her lips. Hercules smiled back at her: "Really? Y-you think so?"

"I know so. Plus you are a sight to a sore eye, to say the least," Meg teased him and he felt the familiar blush creeping up his neck.

"And you are the smartest, bravest and the prettiest girl I've ever met," Hercules suddenly replied with pure adoration in his eyes. Meg felt own cheeks getting flushed and she moved closer until their lips found each other for a long, languid kiss.

After the kiss, Meg felt her head swimming. She wasn't sure if it was the kiss, the deprivation of the sleep or something completely else, but she felt ready to go back to their bed. And eventually, they did get some sleep as well.

* * *

After an emotionally tolling day followed by a sleep deprieved night, the young couple decided to take the day easy and they lounged around the villa, doing nothing particular, which turned out to be just perfect.

When the night-time fell once again, Hercules found himself pondering once again over the fact that Hades was still causing trouble not only to himself, but more so to the woman he loved. During the day, he had Meg's presence to keep him occupied, so these thoughts hadn't bothered him as much. As he tried to settle down to sleep, he wasn't as lucky. All those thoughts came bouncing back at him. For few moments, he tried his best to find a good position, but it was to no avail. He sighed as he got up.

Luckily Meg was able to get some sleep that night. By the looks of it, she had really needed it. Meeting her family and facing her past had been hard for her: however Hercules was very much proud that she had done it, nonetheless. He studied her sleeping form, with tender smile lingering on his smile.

"She's sight for a sore eye, isn't she?" a masculine voice just next to him commented.

His instincts kicked in and before he even knew it, Hercules had gripped his sword placed beside the bed.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy, sport! You could hit somebody with that thing!" The sudden intruder, who turned out to be another of his divine relatives, Ares to be exact, scolded him.

"Well, that was pretty much the idea there," Hercules muttered to himself, still jumpy from Hades appearing in his bedroom. As if that wasn't enough, now he had Ares standing there. Was this some sort usual visiting hour and place of the Gods and he himself just didn't know about it?

"Hmm, I've got to say that I do envy you, sport. I wouldn't mind laying next to her myself every night," Ares once again turned his attention to sleeping form of Meg, his eyes lingering on the curve of her waist and the rounding of her hips, only covered by the thin bed-sheet and on her bare skin, not covered by the sheet.

"I'm… Not sure what to say to that about that," Hercules frowned: he really didn't like anyone, not even the Gods themselves, making such comments concerning Meg.

"I heard that your decision of staying with her on Earth were received with some… Mixed feelings. Some admire it, some wonder whether you have lost your mind or not," Ares commented in a laid-back manner, ignoring Hercules' previous comment.

"Are we talking about Gods or mortals here?" Hercules asked, still uneasy of the attention his divine relatives were giving to his sleeping fiancée.

"Well, both, to be honest. But I myself completely understand you: between the two of us, her beauty defeats even Aphrodite herself. So I completely understand that you couldn't let the opportunity pass," Ares whispered to him, looking around himself as if to make sure that the jealous love goddess wasn't hiding anywhere in the room (at his point, Hercules wouldn't have been even surprised if Aphrodite would have popped out from some nook or cranny).

"Is there a real reason why you decided to pay me a visit past midnight or did you just want to compliment on Meg's looks?" Hercules was getting tired of this conversation: it wasn't doing him any good, if he wanted get any sleep at all during that night.

"Oh. Oh, right! There was. As you probably have heard, your dad Zeus has prohibited us deities from interfering with mortals' affairs," Ares shot an accusing look towards Hercules, who winced, not liking where this was going.

"So, because of that, I've got a problem: my Spartan army needs an inspection and as the matters are what they are, I cannot do that myself," Ares explained.

"But… How are you here then? If you cannot interfere with mortals?" Hercules was taken aback.

"Weell, there's an error in the fine print. Let's just say that we cannot visit _fully_ mortals: demigods such as yourself make an exception. If meeting even the demigods would be forbidden, the old man himself would have hard time seeing you, wouldn't he?" Ares crossed his arms on his broad chest, triumphant smile on his face.

Hercules' mind was trying it's best to fill in the blanks: was that the reason why Hades had been able to visit his home last night? On the other hand, Hades didn't usually follow the same rules placed for the other Gods. And what would it mean if all the Gods were not allowed to see the mortals, but they were still able to summon his help whenever wanted? The thought only made his head ache.

"So I made a petition to Zeus that I would be allowed to attend the matters concerning my army, but all the other Gods have made their own requests and petitions as well. So your old man is buried in those requests and the processing line is gigantic, so to speak: I have no hope of getting my petition getting processed in time," Ares carried on and Hercules felt a twinge of worry: even though his father was lord of the Gods, was he able to handle all that work by himself?

"So you need someone to do the inspection for you?" Hercules concluded.

"Yes, exactly! Would you mind then, sport?" Ares nodded eagerly.

"I'll go to Sparta, first thing in the morning," Hercules promised with a sigh.

"Perfect! I know you're already acquainted with my army," Ares smiled in a reassuring manner. Hercules wanted to cringe: he wasn't still sure if he wanted to revisit his memories concerning the Spartan army.

"Thanks, sport! Nighty night!" Ares exclaimed before he disappeared.

"What was all that ruckus?" Meg, her eyes still heavy with sleep, had stirred a little and raised her head to look towards her fiancé.

"Nothing hon, just go back to sleep. I'll explain it in the morning," Hercules murmured as he headed back to the bed, wrapping his arms around her. Somehow he knew that Meg would lose rest of her sleep if he told her that their bedroom had been once again invaded by a God, even if it wasn't Hades himself this time.

* * *

-A/N: Hey guys, and sorry for the wait, life has been giving me some lemons and I still haven't figure out what to do with them... Anyways, the new chapter is up! Thank you very much for reading and reviewing, cheers!


	10. Of Meeting Familiar Faces

**Of Meeting Familiar Faces**

 _"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."_  
 _― J.R.R. Tolkien_

* * *

As he had initially suspected, the new arrangement which restricted the Gods turned out be more than Hercules had bargained for.

As the Gods no longer could interfere with the mortals' affairs, the Gods had been asking for Hercules' help. First it had been Ares who had summoned Hercules to help him in Sparta. Meg hadn't been too happy as she heard that Ares had appeared in their bedroom, asking for his help, but she understood that he needed to aid his divine relatives.

He bid her farewell, promising that he would only be away for one night at most. He himself didn't feel comfortable with leaving her alone in the villa after she had been just visited by Hades. But she brushed it off, telling him that she was a big tough girl: she could handle. That made Hercules smirk: if anybody, Meg could pretty much handle anything coming up her way.

After Hercules had handled Ares' request, Athena needed him to help her out in Athens. The Athenians accused a woman called Theoris of practicing witchcraft: obviously Athena wanted Hercules the stop the trials, she did not tolerate such folly in her city-state! Hercules had enough matters in his hands in Thebes, but he couldn't refuse the Gods either. And certainly he couldn't let an innocent woman of being accused of being a witch.

As he and Pegasus arrived to central square of Syntagma, the trial had already started. Theoris came from island of Lemnos and wasn't initially Athenian, which made the locals wary of her. Also the locals believed that Theoris had placed a curse upon them, which they believed to be the reason why the Goddess of wisdom wasn't responding to their prayers anymore.

Hercules interfered, presenting himself and explaining that the Goddess Athena had visited him and told him that she did not wish that Theoris would be executed. The locals still grumbled a bit on why Athena had sent him instead of visiting them herself, but finally accepted Hercules as Athena's envoy and listened to his reasoning. In the end, they concluded that Theoris wasn't guilty after all.

Overjoyed Theoris came to thank him after the trial.

"In the name of Gods, I thank you, mighty Hercules. I do not know what could have happened without you. I'm a _pharmakis_ , so I do know herbs and can mix some conjunctions, but I am no witch," the woman explained, two small children tailing after her, firmly gripping each hand of the woman.

"Of course, it was my pleasure. Are these two your children?" Hercules kindly smiled at the children who timidly smiled back at him.

"Yes, my son is called Arel, he's three, and his older sister is called Aegle: she's five," Theoris warmly smiled as she inspected her children.

"I'm very happy to meet you, Arel and Aegle. Take good care of you mother, will you?" Hercules knelt to face the children, who nodded at him eagerly.

"We will, mister. We promise," Aegle solemnly told him.

Hercules then bid farewell to the small family and was left wondering if he would still head back to Thebes that night: he felt weary after the long day and the night was already drawing in. In the other hand, the thought of leaving Meg alone for the night left him uneasy. He was deep in though when a familiar figure approached him.

"So the great hero has the time to visit Athens after all this time," she greeted him, her hands on her hips.

"Cassandra! It's so good to see you!" Hercules pulled her in for a fierce hug.

"Likewise, Herc. I heard the gossip that certain son of Zeus was visiting the city, so I decided to see for myself if the rumor had any truth in it," she replied, giving him a rare, genuine smile.

"Oh man, it's been such a long time! No we only lack –" Hercules was about to speak his other friend's name when they heard a familiar voice from the sky.

"Herc, BUDDY! And my sweetest Cassierose!" the mop of black curly hair on the wings exclaimed.

"Icarus," Cassandra grimaced as the person in question made a less than graceful landing.

"ICK! So good to see you!" Hercules spurted to embrace him.

After being released from his friends grip, hopeful Icarus spread out his hands for Cassandra as if inviting her to hug him.

"Only in your dreams," she hissed at him, crossing her hands at her chest.

"Ha, oh how have I missed your impeccable sense of humor! My love, we have been re-joined at last!" He dramatically proclaimed, not even one bit moved by the icy reception he had just received from her.

"How did you know Herc and I were here?" Cassie asked, suspicion lacing her voice.

"Well, let's just say I've been keeping an eye out for things," Icarus replied vaguely.

"So you've been spying on me?" Cassie was starting to lose her temper.

"I wouldn't call it that, I just had to make sure that my sweet Cassandra wasn't in any trouble," Icarus gave her a smile which in his own mind must have looked charming. Cassandra however scoffed.

"So you have been spying on me, you little creep. Should have known. Why do I see disasters yet my visions wouldn't warn me about this?" She complained.

"Hey, I'm really happy to see you! The both of you," Hercules told them, more than happy to meet his friends from his teenage years.

"Yes! The old gang back together! This calls for celebration!" Icarus exclaimed happily, dancing around the duo of his best friends.

"Fine, you'll be treating," Cassandra huffed.

"Anything my lady wishes for," Icarus saluted her and Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"This will be so much fun!" Hercules was suddenly glad that he had arrived to visit Athens. Maybe Meg was right, she would be alright for one night?

"Shouldn't you at least get rid of those wings?" Cassandra grimaced, pointing the wax-wings still attached to Icarus' back.

"I'm Icarus, the Wax-wing King! Haven't you heard that there's no such thing as bad publicity! This might become even the next fashion-statement!" Icarus strutted confidently along as the people surrounding pointed at him and some of them even giggled.

Hercules and Cassandra shared an amused look: Icarus was certainly the same he had been.

* * *

The trio of friends found a tavern nearby where they decided to share a jug of wine.

"So the two of you have been keeping in touch?" Hercules asked as he observed his friends.

"I wouldn't call it that. More likely, I've been doing my best to avoid Icarus, who keeps sending me scrolls, claiming his eternal love, like weekly at least," Cassie scoffed as she gave Icarus a murderous glance.

"Wouldn't want my sweet Cassiewassie think that I have forgotten about her, even if I'm leading a modest yet successful wax-wing business!" Icarus raised his goblet towards her before taking a sip from it. Cassandra shook her head, looking unamused.

"Otherwise, I guess I'm fine, working at the Oracle Friends Network community. So, I see you managed to become a great hero. What happened to you going to mount Olympus and all that?" Cassandra asked after taking a sip from her goblet.

"Yeah, well. Change of plans," Hercules huffed a small laugh.

"Yeah, figured that much out. So what's her name?" Cassandra replied drily.

"How did you know?" Hercules turned even a deeper shade of crimson.

"Lucky guess?" Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Herc, buddy, the whole Greece has been going wild about you turning down your place in the Pantheon for this mystery woman! So as my Cassielove asked, what's her name?" Icarus butted in.

"Her name is Megara," Hercules had a distant look in his eyes and a goofy smile appeared on his face as soon as he spoke her name. Cassandra shared a knowing look with Icarus.

"Uh-huh. And is she 'rivaling even Aphrodite herself in her beauty', as it is said in the news scrolls?" Cassandra quoted the latest scroll she had read.

"Between the three of us, she even more beautiful than Aphrodite herself," Hercules lowered his voice, trying not to make the vain love Goddess jealous.

"And she smart, funny, brave and did I mention the most beautiful woman in the world?" Hercules recounted, lost in his own thoughts.

"Well, you covered that part for numerous times now. I'm happy for you, but are you sure you're ready give up your dreams for her? You worked so hard to obtain your place as a God," worry was lacing Cassandra's words as she studied her friend.

Hercules sighed, not surprised to see the concerned look on his friends' faces.

"You haven't heard how Meg and I met, have you?" Hercules made sure and as his friends shook their heads with puzzled looks on their faces, he started to recount how he had met her.

"When we first met, Meg was working for Hades. Not willingly I might add, she made a deal with Hades which obliged her to do so. Hades wanted to use her in order to get rid of me, but we fell in love in the process. When I found out the truth about her working for Hades, I was arrogant and stupid and I didn't listen to her because of my wounded pride. Meg got hurt really badly in order to save me. She sacrificed her life to save me," Hercules paused for a moment, struggling to continue.

"Are you saying she…" Cassandra furrowed her brows, trying to piece things together.

"She died, yes," Hercules let out shuddering breath as he remembered the worst night of his life.

"So is it true what people say about you, diving into river Styx in order to save her life?" Cassandra had heard rumors, vague gossips concerning what had transpired, but there were as many versions of the tale as there were people passing the story. That particular question had been playing on Cassandra's mind ever since and apparently she just couldn't let go of it.

"It is. I held her shattered, lifeless body in my arms, the body of the woman I loved. I hadn't even replied to her when she told me that she loved me. That couldn't be her fate, she deserved so much more. I couldn't just let her die. So I went to the Underworld and made a deal with Hades: her soul for mine. But Hades cheated, he thought that he could trap us both there, that I couldn't make it, so he agreed. But I did make it, I managed to get her soul from the river Styx and became a God in the process. When I reunited with Meg, when she opened her eyes and smiled at me and I held her in my arms, I realized that anything, even being a God, would be meaningless without her. Life of a mortal may seem short in years, but sharing my life with her has so much more meaning compared to living as a God, without her. I couldn't even imagine living that life honestly," Hercules sighed as he finished his tale.

"Sheesh, that is one hell of a story. But I guess sitting in the lap of luxury wouldn't suit you in the long run," Cassie told him and Hercules huffed a laugh: "I suppose you're right."

"It seems that you have made up your mind. In that case, I'm happy for you and your girlfriend," Cassandra concluded.

"Fiancée. We actually got engaged recently," Hercules corrected, smiling from ear to ear.

"Whoa, buddy! Congratulations are in order!" Icarus cheered.

"You two certainly haven't wasted any time," Cassandra was a bit taken aback by this sudden announcement.

"If you would meet her, you would understand. What if you came to visit us in Thebes?" Hercules suddenly got excited by the though, the strong wine bringing color to his cheeks.

"I would love to, but my work…" Cassandra started, but Icarus already leaped with the offer.

"Alright, now we're talking! I was thinking to start a side-branch of my business, Thebes sounds like a good place," Icarus cheered.

"Yes! Cassie, you have to come too!" Hercules pleaded.

Cassandra was about to say 'no' but as she studied the wishful faces of her two friends, she found her resolution breaking.

"Fine, I'll be telecommunicating to my workplace," she finally huffed back. Now she had at least a reason to practice more on her telepathic skills.

"Yes! Meg's gonna be so glad!" Hercules cheered as he and Icarus clashed their goblets together.

Cassandra was more than curious to finally see this woman who was known for her beauty and who had completely changed the course of her friend's life and if she lived up to Herc's hype. Tomorrow she would see it for herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Meg had spent her day occupied with various chores. She had even visited her family at the palace, even though meeting her father hadn't been exactly pleasant.

She had done her best to keep herself busy, but the looming night-time did nag at the back of her head. She did not ponder if Hades would come again, she knew him well enough to expect that he would take advantage of Hercules being away.

When the night fell and she was suddenly greeted by a sudden smell of sulfur, she wasn't even surprised: she just let out a weary sigh.

"What is it, Hades?" She snapped, not even facing to look at him.

"You offend me babe, you made it sound like I was more predictable than I am!" Her former boss exclaimed while he moved closer to her.

"Well you are. Just get to the point, okay?" Meg turned to look at him, folding her hands with annoyance.

"Ooh, snappy. Is it because your boyfriend is not here to save you? Or is it your ´ _fiancé'_ now?" Hades mocked her.

"I can handle you very well on own. Now what is it?" Meg was really starting to lose her nerve.

"Can't an old friend pay you a visit without an agenda?" Hades proposed in a suspiciously innocent manner.

"We are not friends, never were and besides, you never do anything without an agenda. Now finally spill it," Meg growled.

"Hmmph. You might have a point there. But really Meg, him? Out of all men out there," Hades spread out his hands in confusion.

"You're concerned with my taste in men, is that your problem? What are you, my father?" Meg gave an incredulous laugh. Why on Earth would she want to discuss this matter with him, out of all people and Gods out there?

"Call me sentimental, but you have potential: you could have done so much better, Meg," Hades inched closer to Meg, who instinctively pulled further away.

"Really Hades, did you come here to give me some life-advice? Am I doing so badly in life that I need some cosmic interference from the God of the Dead?" Meg gave him a jaded look.

"To be honest babe: yes, you do," Hades gave her a wide grin, mimicking a friendly smile.

"Well, from my perspective, I would have appreciated and needed some divine advice back then when I first stroke that deal with you!" Meg sharply pointed out and Hades sighed.

"Really Meg? My feelings are hurt. Then we never would have gotten to know each other!" Hades exclaimed, mockingly sounding offended.

"I could have lived without that information," Meg muttered back.

 _'Well, I couldn't have,'_ a passing thought crossed Hades' mind, but he shrugged it away

"But thanks to all that crap, I did end up meeting Herc and I guess it did work out, eventually. No thanks to you, though," Meg continued more audibly and Hades gritted his teeth together.

Oh how many times he had been mad at himself for getting those two interfered with each other. Were the Fates themselves laughing at his expense? Knowing those broads, he wouldn't be surprised: you would be surprised for how long the Fates could hold grudges for breaking certain promises.

Not that Hades had any experience of that, mind you.

"Honestly Hades, I don't get it. Why would it bother you that much?" Meg sighed, which pulled Hades out of his internal colloquy.

At the same time, Hades felt both irked and strangely pleased: Meg was one of those few persons (both mortal and immortal accounted for) who could see right through him even without trying to do so.

And what annoyed him the most, he did not understand it himself: why had it blown his top off to realize that she had fallen for that clumsy jackass? He wished he cold have answered that question himself. And he hated and loved at the same time that she had once again seen through him. ' _Why did that brat have to take away and ruin everything I hold important? Wait; where did that thought come from?'_

"It doesn't, Meg my sweet. But just wanted to give you a heads up that it isn't too late to change your mind," Hades quickly replied and Meg scoffed.

"Well, don't you go wasting your breath," Meg hissed at him.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. See you around, babe," Hades shrugged before disappearing.

Left alone once again, Meg sighed wearily before sitting down to a couch. She shook her head slowly as she buried her face to her hands. What was Hades up to? Why was he suddenly concerned with the choices she had made? And most of all: what was he warning her about?

There was something more to that story; Meg was certain of it.

She needed to figure out what it was.

* * *

-A/N: So, as I failed to meet my monthly update last month, I will make up for it by updating TWICE this month. Does that sound like a fair deal? And a super-long chapter at that!

And yes, we have finally reached the point where Icarus and Cassandra join the fun, I hope you're as excited as I am! I know that in the Hercules animated series, Meg had never met Cassandra and Icarus, but I thought the dynamics of these four would be so much fun to write, so I couldn't pass this opportunity up. My story, my rules!

Another note: Theoris of Lemnos was really a woman accused of witch-craft back in ancient Athens. However, she wasn't as lucky as Theoris in our story, for she was ultimately executed. So, pharmacist derives from Greek word _'pharmakis'_ : their basic job was working with herbs, medicines and poison. I like to incorporate elements from real Ancient history whenever I can.

Guest: I'm happy you're enjoying, here's another chapter!

Nutmeg: I'm a genie, granting my loyal readers' wishes.

Once again, thanks for reading and reviewing!


	11. Of Coming Back Home

**Of Coming Back Home**

 _"I've seen your face a thousand times_  
 _Every day we've been apart."_

 _\- Mama, I'm Coming Home_ by Ozzy Osbourne

* * *

Hades was pacing back and forth in his Underworld domain, irritation apparent on his sharp features. He had sent his daemons, Pain and Panic on a trivial and mundane job: as their master had been even more on the edge than usually as he returned back to his domain, the two minions were more than happy to do as they were told, scurrying away, tripping over each other.

And the reason why Hades had sent them away? He did not need his minions seeing him like this, so _worked up_ because of a mortal woman.

The way she was all tangled up in _his_ arms was etched to the Hades' retinas even when he closed his eyes. The way she looked at _him_ with tenderness, longing in her eyes, the way her lips curled at a small smile even when she only mentioned _his_ name…

Ugh, so despicable! She was just… So better than him, that oblivious yet strangely indestructible son of Zeus!

As she had pointed it out, he did not know himself why he had returned there once more and why she being with him bothered him to this level. Meg had seen straight to the core of the problem and it all infuriated him even more.

All these thoughts, occupying his mind, were driving him off the edge: why that simple-minded demi-dork out of all men there was? _Why him?_

 _(And why not me?)_

Hades wanted to chase these thoughts away, but instead, he screamed out with rage and frustration, destroying with his fireball another piece of furniture standing on his way.

Then he gritted his teeth together as shook his head with irritation, trying to collect his resolution once again.

He needed to get his head back in the game, he needed to concentrate on the plot he was cooking up with Cybele. He needed no more distraction; no more listening to his urges, no more seeing _her_ if he wanted to remain calm.

Just him, concentrating on his new plan.

And then, maybe, if he could do something about her at the same time, that would be a plus.

A big plus, indeed.

But at the moment, no more thinking of her: it was enough to throw him off his track and he needed no more of that.

"Pain, Panic; get your pathetic rears here! And when I say here, I mean like right NOW!" Hades yelled, his infamous temper already running short.

When his two minion fumbled in to the room, he paid no attention to their grovelling, getting straight into the point:

"Boys, I need you to find someone for me. And if you screw it up this time, I'll be sizzling your backsides off like bacon. Comprende?"

"Right on it, boss!" Pain assured, Panic nodding his head manically in agreement.

"Good. So here's the deal…" Hades was back on his track, doing the thing he did best: scheming.

* * *

The next morning, before the three friends started their journey to Thebes, Hercules exclaimed that he had something he had to do at the agora of Athens before leaving. As Cassandra was going to ride Pegasus with Hercules, she had agreed to meet Hercules at the agora.

Icarus would take his wax-wings, claiming that he had to test-fly his newest invention. He babbled on something concerning the altered wingspan of this particular model, but Cassandra didn't quite catch what he was telling them as she didn't listen to his long and rambling explanations.

So when Cassandra met Hercules at the agora, he was on a glaringly good mood.

"Why so chipper?" Cassandra asked, crossing her hands on her chest as he approached her.

"I wanted to find something for Meg. This is perfect," Hercules told her, a goofy smile on his face. Then he showed his hand: on his palm was resting a silver necklace with one, perfectly refined oval-shaped amethyst dangling from the dainty chain.

"It's the same color as her eyes," he told her, a dreamy look on his eyes.

"Well aren't you a romantic. If she's as sentimental as you are, then I'm sure she'll love it. Shouldn't we get going, so you may give it to your girlfriend?" Cassandra pointed out and Hercules eagerly agreed.

As they had agreed before, Cassandra rode Pegasus with Hercules as they journeyed to Thebes. As they finally arrived, they were starting to approach a huge villa. More like a mansion, Cassandra concluded.

"What happened to 'hero's always humble'?" Cassandra told Hercules with an amused look, who gave her a sheepish grin and shrugged his shoulders back in return.

They landed near the entrance of the house and Hercules was already striding towards the door as her feet finally touched the ground. He certainly was in hurry to see his girlfriend.

 _'Fiancée'_ , Cassandra corrected inside her own mind. She was curious to see this woman who had enthralled her friend so completely.

She and Icarus followed Hercules' steps as he hurried inside. Cassandra took notice of the lavish furniture and decorations inside: Herc had certainly done well with his hero business.

"Hon, I'm back!" Hercules announced loudly.

It was silent for a moment, but soon enough they heard an echo of delicate footsteps. Then a slender woman rushed into the room and into Hercules' waiting arms. He enveloped her into his arms, spinning her in the air and placing such a longing kiss on her lips that made Cassandra feel she was intruding a private moment between two lovers.

As the pair pulled away from each other and Hercules placed her back to the ground, the woman finally took notice of them.

"Oh! I didn't know we had company!" she claimed, giving Hercules a meaningful look.

"Sorry hon, these are my friends, from high school, Cassandra and Icarus," Hercules introduced them, giving her a sheepish grin.

"Herc has told us a lot about you," Cassandra told her, studying the woman before her. She was slender, yet curvy in all the right places, her long, rich auburn hair cascading to her waist. Her features were delicate, yet somehow exquisite: she had deep, violet eyes unlike any other person Cassandra had ever met. Her eyes truly were like amethysts, just like Herc had described them. Her movements were graceful and purposeful and the way she moved reminded Cassandra of a graceful feline.

She could see why Hercules had been raving about her looks, even as a woman Cassandra could safely judge that she truly the most beautiful woman she had seen, both mortal and immortal women accounted for: her beauty seemed almost surreal. Yet there was something familiar about her, yet Cassandra couldn't quite put her finger on what it was-

"Exaggerating, I'm sure," she told with a small smile on her face, her voice husky. She gave Hercules another knowing look before offering her hand: "I'm Meg."

"Cassandra," came her reply as she reached for her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Herc has told me about the two of you. So you're the psychic one?" Meg studied Cassandra.

"Unfortunately, yes," Cassandra shook her head.

"I can only imagine," Meg gave her a dry smile.

Icarus had been keeping himself busy studying everything surrounding them, still awed by every little detail in the room he was standing in.

"Ick…" Hercules tried, feeling a bit uncomfortable that his other friend hadn't even greeted his girlfriend.

"So, you're the inventor?" Meg placed her hands on hips, obviously amused as she studied the mop of unruly black hair, dashing around her atrium, taking all the details in.

"A creaton!" Icarus suddenly exclaimed as he pointed one finger upwards, reminding Hercules much of his father, Daedalus. Suddenly he seemed to take notice of Meg.

"So you, my fair lady, are the keeper of my friend's heart! Icarus, at you service!" Icarus suddenly darted at her, bowing dramatically and kissing her hand.

First Meg glanced incredously at Herc and Cassandra and after they shrugged, she laughed melodiously.

"You're adorable," she was able to huff out between her laughter.

"See! I'm adorable!" Icarus pointed victoriously with his finger at Cassandra, who in return simply rolled her eyes.

"I have now reached a conclusion that I like her. She's a keeper!" Icarus exclaimed to Hercules with a happy smile on his face.

"You're certainly the best of Herc's girlfriends," Icarus then turned his focus back to Meg.

"Oh, am I? He hasn't told me about his other girlfriends," Meg now had a mischevious glint in her eyes.

"Oh! Well, once he dated Medusa, then he dated this girl for few days, who then left him for Ajax, he also had crush on Helen, who turned out to be his half-sister, the list goes on and on! Ooh, and then he made a woman out of _clay_ for the Aphrodisia dance! Poor guy, I really thought he was gonna end up alone. But then you came along, proving all my fears wrong," Icarus counted Herc's previous relationship failures dramatically as he wrapped his arm around Meg, vividly motioning with his hands as he spoke.

"Thanks, Ick", Hercules huffed, not ready to share all of those stories with his current girlfriend.

"Herc had such bad luck with girls at high school, you don't even know _half_ of it! How have I prayed that Herc would someday experience even a little taste of what a true love-story has to offer: a love-story like the one of Cassie and moí, Zeus and Hera, Dido and Aeneas…" Icarus started to dramatically list the famous pairings as he tried to wrap his other arm around Cassandra, much like he had just done to Meg.

"Personal space, Icarus!" Cassandra pushed him quickly away.

"…Cleopatra and Caesar, Psyche and Cupid, Narcissus and… Himself," Icarus kept going with his list as if nothing had even happened. Meg shared a quick glance with Hercules: both of them were obviously fighting to control their emotions and not to burst out laughing.

"Did Herc tell you that I was literally the first woman he encountered on his way from Phil's island to Thebes?" Meg quickly smirked at Hercules.

"That's our Herc, falling for the first woman he encounters!" Icarus exclaimed as if it was a positive thing.

"Really?" Cassandra arched an questioning eyebrow as she looked at Hercules.

"Hey! She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen! I didn't stand a chance!" Hercules shrugged.

"Oh, going back to the matter of Herc's previous girlfriends, I have been thinking about Herc's high school days. Care to tell me more?" Meg gave Hercules a devious smile as she encouraged Icarus to continue.

"Oh, now would I! Grab a drink and maybe a snack sister, this is gonna be a long, LONG story…" Icarus replied as he guided Meg towards a sofa.

"Oh Gods," Hercules muttered as he covered his face with his hands.

"We have unleashed a demon: it's the Icarus _who will never shut up_!" Cassandra muttered to him as they followed Meg and Icarus.

Nevertheless, they had a fun afternoon and then an evening: they shared stories, memories, few goblets of wine and some good food. Hercules especially enjoyed connecting with his old friends and seeing that they enjoyed Meg's company as well.

* * *

The evening was over all too soon and as Hercules retrieved to the bedroom he shared with Meg, he quietly took off his own clothes and scooted close to her.

"I missed you," he whispered to her, burying his face in her hair.

"I missed you too. So how was Sparta _and_ Athens, I presume it was a good trip?" Meg drowsily asked as she moved closer to him.

"It was good. Tolling for the work part, but I was glad to meet Cassie and Ick in Athens. I'm happy that you met them too. You guys seem to get along well," he told her.

"Glad to hear that. And they do seem really nice. But I'm most happy of you coming back," Meg confessed to him quietly.

"Me too, I'm happy to back here with you. Oh! I almost forgot," he told her, quickly getting back up and reaching for his tunic. He took something from the pocket, handing it out for her.

"It's for you," he told her, a small, almost a timid smile playing on his lips.

"What is it?" Meg asked, a bit amused as she reached for whatever he had in his hand.

She felt something cool and light and as she looked at her hand, she saw an necklace: a single, oval-shaped amethyst was dangling from it.

"It reminded me of you, it looked the exact same color as your eyes," Hercules told her.

"Oh, it's beautiful. You shouldn't have, you were only gone for one night," Meg felt touched, even more so then she probably should have. She had received many pieces of jewelry as a princess, but this felt much more personal, much more private than any of those gifts had ever felt.

"I know. I just… I never really have bought anyone tokens from a trip like that. I never really have had anyone to buy things like that in the first place. I just… Wanted to do it," he explained honestly and she felt her heart breaking just a bit for him.

"I will cherish it. Thank you," Meg told him, brushing his gift gently before placing it carefully to the nightstand beside their bed.

He placed a small kiss on her forehead and whispered to her: "I love you, hon."

"Love you too, Wonderboy," came her sleepy reply and Hercules himself fell asleep with a contented smile on his face.

* * *

-A/N: I'm back with another update! And a big thank you for the feedback of my previous chapter: you guys really seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. You guys rock!

So according to Hercules: The Animated Series Meg had never met Cassandra, which I thought was such a shame, because I really wanted to see the two of them banter at each other. I think Cassandra would eventually really like her, so I'm super-excited to get them to meet each other. _Yas_!

Guest 1: Awww, thank you, your review(s), really made my day! I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying this that much! Here's another chapter!

Guest 2: I'm so happy to hear that, here's another chapter!

Nutmeg: Yay, so happy to know that you're still enjoying this, here's more to read for you!

Guest 3: No worries concerning that, Hades might have his own ideas, but we are certainly not headed to that direction. ;)

OMG: I agree with you one hundred percent! And I'm super happy to hear that you think I have captured the way Meg speaks, I try my best to maintain the characters as plausible as possible


	12. Of Unexpected Invitations

**Of Unexpected Invitations**

" _True friends bring out the best in you_."

\- _Chris T. Atkinson_

* * *

When Cassandra got up the next morning, Meg was already in the kitchen, preparing warm, herbal drinks and putting something edible together for the late breakfast.

"Good morning," Cassandra greeted her. "Need a hand?"

"No thanks, I'm pretty much finished. You want some?" Meg offered a steaming cup the her, which Cassandra gratefully accepted.

"So Herc did give you his gift," Cassandra nodded towards the necklace dangling below her collarbones. Meg placed her hand over the small stone pendant with a gentle smile on her lips.

"So he told you about it, huh?" Meg asked as she turned back to her tasks

"Yes, I guess he was too excited not to share his find," Cassandra shook her head fondly.

"That sounds like him alright," Meg laughed, preparing another cup of the herbal brew. It was obviously for Herc as she left it to brew and took herself another cup, which was obviously her own.

"Herc's not up yet? And Icarus neither?" Cassandra took a sip from her tea. It was strong, but fragrant: Cassandra did like the taste and it did help with her ghost of a hangover.

"Yeah. I left him to sleep, he seemed like he had a bit too much to drink," Meg told her, shaking her head. She sat opposite to Cassandra and took a sip of her own tea as well.

"Sorry about that," Cassandra felt slightly guilty.

"Nonsense, don't be. For a guy his size, he really can't hold his drink. So it doesn't really matter how much or most of the time, how little he drinks, he'll get a hangover in either case," Meg laughed gently.

"Poor Herc, he's such a lightweight when it comes to drinking. Which is rather funny, considering he's not lightweight in size. Like at all," Cassandra mused and the two women shared a small laugh together.

"Yeah, it really is. Herc is really happy to meet you guys again. He's been feeling a little down ever since Phil moved back to his island, even if he won't admit it," Meg pointed out, looking at Cassandra.

"Hmm, I can imagine. The goatman was there for him for many years. But it's safe to say I'm happy to see him as well. Not so sure about Icarus, though. So how is it, being the fiancée of the most famous man in Greece?" Cassandra asked, casually sipping her drink.

"I guess it has it's perks," Meg laughed it off and but then continued with a more serious note: "But I actually love Herc for himself, for his personality: he's the kindest person I've met. I love it how he sees good in everything and everybody. Even in me, when I was in the darkest place in my life."

"That's good to hear. I mean, I didn't take you as the usual gold-digger kinda type, but he really needs somebody who likes him just the way he is. From what I've gathered in our conversations, he seems really happy with you. And it's obvious he's head over heels in love with you," Cassandra entrusted out.

"Well, that 'taking a dip in the river of Styx and fetching my soul'-stunt was enough to convince me," Meg huffed out a dry laugh, still shaking her head in mild disbelief.

"That's Herc for you, he did always have a flare for the dramatic," Cassandra shrugged, giving her a lop-sided smile. Meg laughed out, shaking her head.

"Oh, he really does, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. But on the more serious note, I want him to be happy. I sometimes wonder if he will regret choosing me instead of immortal life," Meg sighed as she sipped her tea again.

"You're kidding me, right? When we met at Athens and he talked about you, he literally told me that living without you, even as a God, would mean nothing without you," Cassandra explained to her, taking a piece of bread and dipping it to olive oil. _'Delicious.'_

"Is something else bothering you?" Cassandra frowned as she studied the woman before her. Even if Cassandra didn't know her that well, she had a worried look on her face, her brows set in a perplexed manner. Something was obviously weighing her down.

"Is it that obvious?" Meg huffed out a dry laughter. "Hades. He came to pay us a nightly visit before Herc went to Athens. And when Herc was gone, he came again to see me alone. He's obviously up to something."

"Nightly visits from the lord of the Dead? Yeah, that does sound kinda worrying. Hades' is a bully, he doesn't like to be forgotten, my guess would be that he wants to remind you that's he's still here. Which means, you still matter to him at some level. Which is kinda creepy, when you think about," Cassandra frowned as she pondered out loud. Meg felt her skin crawl: she had played similar thoughts in her own head, but hearing someone confirming them made them feel more real.

"He talked about some kind of plan of his. I don't know, he didn't elaborate, but Hades' plans never sound promising, now do they?" Meg shot Cassandra a knowing look, who had to agree with her reasoning.

"Yeah, it does seem like he's up to something," Cassandra concluded, remembering all the unpleasant accounts when she had met the Lord of the Dead.

"Yeah. Figures," Meg muttered back, still lost in her own thoughts.

"I know it's not what you probably wanted to hear, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. I mean, no matter what he's got in his mind, worrying about it beforehand won't make you feel any better," Cassandra awkwardly patted Meg's hand.

"I suppose you're right. Thanks," Meg rewarded her with a small smile.

"Herc has confidence that the two of you can work out anything coming at your way," Cassandra then told her.

"That sounds like my Wonderboy. His endless optimism is one of the things I loved he most," Meg replied, but before she could finish her sentence, Hercules had made his way to the kitchen as well. Judging by his face, Meg knew he had a headache.

"What are you talking about?" he then asked, grimacing at his headache.

"Good morning to you as well, my love. I was talking about the things I most love about you." Meg teased him. "There's tea brewing for you as well. Extra strong, I think you'll be needing it."

"Thanks," Hercules simply replied her, taking a long sip of the tea, breathing out in relief. _'Much better.'_

"You know me so well," he then replied Meg, kissing her on neck.

"Mhm, you still reek of wine!" Meg complained playfully, making a face.

"Love you as well, honey," Hercules sat next to her, placing his hand on her thigh.

"If you two want some alone-time, I can get going," Cassandra mockingly told them, more than a little humored by their open show of affection for each other, but for once in her lifetime, wondering where Icarus dawdled.

"Naw, don't mind us. This is probably why Phil moved back to his island, come to think of it," Meg playfully bantered back.

"I can imagine that the goatman couldn't stomach seeing that kind of affection every single morning," Cassandra huffed a laugh, imagining Phil's face.

"Every morning, every day, every evening…" Hercules listed as he drank his tea.

"Don't forget, sometimes even at night!" Meg quipped back, which made Herc blush.

"Oh. Now that makes sense, it would make even braver man run," Cassandra replied, shaking her head and all three of them shared a laugh.

"Not so loud, Ickie's head hurts," a grimacing Icarus emerged to the kitchen, his hair even more of a mess than usually. (Cassandra wasn't quite sure how that was even possible.)

"There's a warm herbal drink over there to cure your wounds," Meg pointed towards the kitchen counter and Icarus followed her directions, taking a cup and pouring himself something to drink. He sighed with evident relief after taking a long sip.

"You are a miracle-worker, my kind lady," Icarus came stand beside Meg and bowed before her dramatically. Cassandra was tiniest bit impressed that he didn't spill any of his drink while doing it.

"Well, aren't you well-behaved this morning. You're welcome," Meg shook her head with a little smile on her face.

"Careful, he might take Meg as his new target," Cassandra told smugly to Hercules over her teacup. Hercules shot her an amused smile.

"I'd never abandon my sweetest Sassy-cassy!" Icarus announced as he sat next to her, much closer than she would have preferred.

"So much for that…" Cassandra muttered and Meg gave her a sympathetic, even though slightly amused, smile.

The four of them had spent most of the morning casually talking around the kitchen table. Their relaxing start of a day was interrupted, when a scroll was delivered to the villa: both Meg and Hercules were requested to attend a dinner of the royal family at the palace.

Neither Hercules and Meg even less really felt like attending, especially now that they had Cassandra and Icarus visiting them.

But as Hercules pointed out, it likely wouldn't be wise to agitate the king even more and decline his request.

Meg asked if Cassandra and Icarus felt like attending the dinner, but Cassandra anxiously declined, saying that she saw heinous visions enough without attending someone else's family dinners. Meg gave out a dry laugh: she had to appreciate the other woman's honest, which would seem brutal to others. She would have skipped the dinner too, if the family in question would not have been her own.

So Meg really liked Cassandra's honesty: she said exactly what she thought, so there was no second-guessing her real opinions.

Icarus, on the other hand, was torn between two: his natural curiosity in new things and experiences, which inclined him to go and see the palace and its residents. But the other possibly weighed more on his own personal scales: spending some quality-time with his wonderful Cassielassy. Alone-time with her. Oh yep, his mind was set alright.

* * *

-A/N: Sorry for the longer delay than intended, needed to take a small breather. I'm wishing all my readers wonderful holidays and happy new year!

OMG: Yes, I'm familiar with the TV-series version of Hercules, I tried subtly pointing out that Cassandra vaguely remembers Meg. Glad you're enjoying!

Nutmeg: Happy to hear that you're still enjoying this!

Sakura119; Here's the next chapter, sorry it took so long!

Guest1: Well, we can have cutesy stuff all the time, now can we? Happy you like it!

Guest2: I agree, the whole Hercules fandom is so underrated! Thank you!

Mai: So happy to hear that, hope you'll keep reading! And yes, I'm aware of that: maybe I hinted to that too subtly? ^_^'

Guest3: That has been my intention and I'm happy to hear that I have succeeded so far.


	13. Of Making Amends

**Of Making Amends**

 _"And now I stand here starry-eyed and stormy_

 _Oh, just when I thought my heart was finally numb_

 _A beautiful, young man appears before me,_

 _Singing 'come, oh, won't you come'_

 _And what can I do if finally for the first time_

 _The one I'm burning for returns the glow?_

 _If love has come at last it's picked the worst time_

 _Still I know_

 _I've got to go."_

 _\- Meadowlark_ by Susan Egan

* * *

When the evening came, both Hercules and Meg even more so got reluctantly ready and took Pegasus to journey to the palace. Flying did not cause a full-scale panic attack to Meg any more, but she did not really enjoy it either. She kept herself glued to Hercules, trusting that if her hero had retrieved her soul from the Underworld, he could handle this situation as well.

When the two of them arrived to the palace, it obvious judging by the icy attitude of Creon's, that inviting Hercules had been against his wishes: it had been obviously Harmonia who had persuaded him into inviting Hercules as well. Meg appriciated the gesture though, for she didn't even want to know how painful being in her childhood home would have been without Wonderboy as her moral support.

All Meg's family member were there to greet them, even though Pyrrha still seemed somewhat unwilling to be there. After changing greetings and pleasantries, Meg eyed worriedly her father: he seemed even worse out than he had been the last time she saw him. Her father noticed her look.

"I am quite alright, my dear. Still having those headaches, though. If you want to please your father, would you mind singing for me?" her father brushed her worries aside and gestured towards the corner of the room. There, Meg spotted the same lyre she had used to play when she was still living in the palace and asked to play. Mostly those times where when she had to entertain the quests, but king Creon had always enjoyed music: she knew her father loved to listen to her play, it reminded him of his late wife, who had been a famously skilled singer and a player of lyre.

Momentarily, Meg wanted to argue But then she took another look of her father's paled, pained complexion and re-thought her plans, swallowing back her objections. This was not the time nor the place to question her father's physical condition: if she continued pressing on the matter, she would only anger him once more and for once she wanted to avoid that. She would figure out what was going on eventually.

"Of course," Meg replied with a small, forced smile. Obediently Meg went to pick up the instrument, gently testing its strings.

The strings were in a perfect condition: someone had been obviously attuning her instrument while she was away. It almost as if she had regained a member of her body or a limb she hadn't even known she was missing. Holding the lyre in her hands felt so very good: she hadn't even realized how much she had missed this.

Then she picked out a song and started to perform, her fingers running on the strings as if they hand a mind of their own.

 _"When I was a girl l I had a favorite story_

 _Of the meadowlark who lived where the rivers wind_

 _Her voice could match the angels' in its glory_

 _But she was blind, the lark was blind_

 _An old king came and took her to his palace_

 _Where the walls were burnished bronze and golden braid_

 _And he fed her fruit and nuts from an ivory chalice_

 _And he prayed:_

 _'Sing for me, my meadowlark,_

 _Sing for me of the silver morning,_

 _Set me free, my meadowlark,_

 _And I'll buy you a priceless jewel_

 _And cloth of brocade and crewel_

 _And I'll love you for life,_

 _If you will sing for me.'"_

Hercules was completely taken aback with Meg's skill. He had heard her humming to herself and taken notice that she had a beautiful singing voice, but he had never known that she was this skilled. King Creon had his eyes closed, completely absorbed with the music. Henioche was listening with a warm smile on her face, but Pyrrha was pointedly facing away from Meg, studying the tapestry covering the wall.

"She's good, isn't she?" Harmonia quietly whispered to Hercules.

"Yes," he breathed back, still baffled by her skill.

"Her mother, Eurydiche, was talented a singer and a player of the lyre. That is another quality Megara has inherited from her mother. My son, Creon, really loved listening to Eurydiche. Well, he loved her in many ways, but that was one of the things cherished above other things," Harmonia sighed, fondly studying her granddaughter.

As Hercules glanced at Creon, he noticed a faint trail a moistness escaping his closed eyes and running down his left cheek. Momentarily Hercules wondered how Creon had continued living his life after losing the wife he obviously had loved and cherished so much, remembering the pain that had filled every part of his mind and body when he had momentarily lost Meg.

He felt as if now he could understand the strict king just a little better than before.

 _"Fly away, meadowlark_

 _Fly away in the silver morning,_

 _If I stay, I'll grow to curse the dark_

 _So it's off where the days won't bind me_

 _I know I leave wounds behind me_

 _But I won't let tomorrow find me_

 _Back this way_

 _Before my past once again can blind me_

 _Fly away_

 _And we won't wait to say goodbye_

 _My beautiful young man and I,"_ Meg's voice grew stronger towards the end, filling the whole hall.

King Creon gave a shuddered breath at the end of her song, his eyes still filled with tears.

"You've still got it, dear," Harmonia complimented Meg as she put her lyre away.

"You are more talented than ever, my dear daughter. Eurydiche would be so proud," Creon whispered the last part, momentarily lost in his own thoughts. Meg shook her head with a small, almost timid smile, as if to brush the compliments away.

"I had no idea that you're that talented," Hercules honestly told her as she returned to stand beside him.

"I have many skills. But thanks, Wonderboy," Meg replied with a coy smile.

Finally, Creon shook himself out of his reverie, clasping his hands together.

"Now, that our hunger for arts is sated, we shall dine," Creon concluded, inviting the servants to bring out the dishes.

The conversation during the dinner wasn't exactly fluent as Creon was still against her daughter marrying the demigod against his wishes, Pyrrha was still mad at her eldest sister and Henioche was rendered into speechless as she ogled at Hercules. But Hercules, Meg and Harmonia tried their best to keep the conversation going. After the dinner was served, Pyrrha stumbled up and muttered: "Thanks for the dinner." Then she stomped into the garden, obviously still mad at Meg.

Meg sighed unhappily and Hercules placed his hand on hers under the table, giving her a compassionate look. And he had thought that his family relations were complicated.

"So how are the matters of the city-state, father?" Meg politely asked and Creon sighed.

"Well, we have still much reconstruction to do after that Cyclops' attack," her father begun and Meg had to fight the urge to remark that without her fiancé, they probably wouldn't have even a city-state to rebuild.

"And then, those damned cultists, those followers of old Goddess Cybele and that cursed Zenia woman as their leader are giving us hard time," her father carried on.

"Why, aren't they usually quite peaceful? Maybe a bit eccentric, but not revolutionary at least?" Meg furrowed her brows.

"Well, they have been babbling about Cybele being mad at Greeks and that some divine retribution coming for us," Creon huffed condescendingly.

"Are sure there's no look deeper into this matter?" Meg felt the need to disagree: sure, those people had certainly some weird outlooks on life, but what if there was a piece in this puzzle they were all missing?

"Religious fanatics like them are always muttering such ominous nonsense," Creon explained and had a small fit of cough. Meg furrowed her brows again, this time out of worry.

Then Creon cleared his throat and started a long speech about matters concerning the situation of the city-state. For a moment Hercules tried to follow his monologue, but the honeyed wine was making his head pound. Meg gave him an understanding look: after all, it was because of her questions that her father was giving this speech.

"I'm gonna step outside for a moment. You okay, hon?" He whispered, giving his beloved a concerned look.

"This is a family dinner, not torture even if Cassandra might see it as such. Sure, I'll be just fine," Meg whispered back, giving him a quick smile.

Hercules shot her a thankful smile before he got up and excused himself and the king hardly noticed him exiting as he was just getting started with his speech.

Hercules breathed in the fresh, cool night air from the gardens: their lush richness was truly a sight to be seen. Without a real destination in his mind, he started walking, just appreciating the fresh air and the scent of the herbs and flowers. As his way trailed to the fountain, he saw a figure seated on the paving surrounding the waterworks.

Pyrrha was sitting there alone and judging by the slouch of her shoulders, she wasn't in a good mood. Hercules decided to push his luck anyway.

"Hi, would you mind having company?" he asked, smiling at her kindly.

"Hmph, suit yourself," Pyrrha gave him a quick look, before looking back into the water. Hercules took her answer as 'a yes' and sat beside her. For a moment, both of them remained silent.

"My sister Henioche said you wish to marry Meg," Pyrrha suddenly said, her voice sounding tense.

"Yes, I certainly wish to," Hercules replied with a small smile.

"Is it because of her beauty? Everybody is always telling how she's the most beautiful of us three sisters, how she looks so much like mother," Pyrrha replied petulantly, finally looking at him.

She shared some similar traits with Meg, her hair was the same auburn color and her eyes were bluer than Meg's, but there was some obvious similarity there. Her features, however, where more strongly inherited from their father's side as they were more angular. Her built was more slender than that of Henioche's, almost tomboyish: considering her age, she had still a year or so, before her feminine features would become more prominent.

"Hmmm, it is true that when I met Meg for the first time, I did notice her beauty first. But it isn't the reason why I wish to marry her," Hercules started to replied, but Pyrrha continued her angry rant.

"Everybody are always raving who she's the prettiest one, the smartest one and the most talented one of us three: of course she will be the one of us who ends up marrying the most famous hero in Greece and the son of Zeus. Even if she fights with father, he too holds a special place for her in his heart, because she reminds him of mother," Pyrrha ended her speech, crossing her hands on her chest.

"I'm sure your father has a special place in his heart for each one of you and your sisters. But coming back to what you said before, if I was really concerned with only Meg's looks, I really couldn't say I want to marry her out of love, now could I?" Hercules told her, giving her a side-way glance.

"You love her?" Pyrrha snorted with disbelief.

"Yes, I do, " Hercules replied, sounding sincere.

"Why?" Pyrrha seemed perplexed. There was defiance in the look she gave Hercules, something so characteristic for a teenager.

"There are many reasons. I love her, because she accepts me the way I am. Everybody expects so much from me as a demigod and as a hero, yet when I'm with her, I'm allowed to be just me. I love her for her mind, she's the smartest person I've met: her sense of humor, the way she never fails to give a witty response to anything anyone says amazes me. And she's loyal and brave: there was a period of time, when I misjudged her character because of the mistakes she had made and I pushed her away. She still wouldn't leave my side and though I had pushed her away, she was still even willing to risk her own life to save mine," Hercules sighed at the end of the last sentence, the memory still too fresh and painful in his mind.

"What happened?" Pyrrha was now intently listening.

"She died. But I was able to save her, I dived into the river Styx in order to save her. After that I realized that not even becoming a God could compete with being with her. Just being with her fills me with happiness," Hercules gave her a bit melancholic smile, remembering all they had been through in order to be together.

"You did all that because of her?" Even Pyrrha sounded a tiniest bit impressed.

"I did. But Meg is the true hero here, she actually did give her life to save me. She would do anything for those she cares about, to those who she loves: that includes you as well," Hercules kindly told her.

"The way she left… I was so mad, so disappointed. I still am," Pyrrha quietly whispered.

"It's understandable. Meg knows it too and she feels really bad about it: I know she would be more than happy to explain by herself, if you're willing to give her a chance," Hercules carefully tested the waters with Pyrrha, hoping that she would at least give Meg a chance.

There was a long silence: Pyrrha's brows were knitted together and it was somehow poignant for Hercules to recognize the similar trait she shared with Meg.

"Fine," Pyrrha finally muttered. She hardly heard what Hercules told her as he quickly got onto his feet and trekked towards the palace. Pyrrha stayed seated, until she heard softer steps approaching. She didn't need to turn to face the comer as she already knew who it was.

Meg took the same spot which Hercules had vacated only a few moments ago.

"He spoke highly of you," Pyrrha simply stated to her older sister.

"Hmph, I can only imagine: he _thinks_ too highly of me," Meg chuckled, still unsure of how the situation would unravel.

"You know, I'm still mad at you," Pyrrha responded, still not facing her sister.

"I know. You have every right to be. When I first left the palace, I just wished to be free and to be with my boyfriend of that time. Well, I guess you still remember Damen. Fleeing with him was one of the worst decisions I've ever made and during these recent years, I've made a lot of them. I ended up in a really bad place in my life: I guess some could say that it was almost poetic that I met Hercules when I was probably at the lowest point of my life. I regret turning my back at you and at our family. I'm ashamed of it, so ashamed that I've postponed returning here for as long as I could. I'm not proud of it. So yeah, I know you've got every right to be mad at me," Meg balled her hands into fists as she closed her eyes, recalling all those dark places she had visited before she had met him.

"I thought that you just ran away and had the time of your life and then assumed that you can return here with your famous boyfriend. That made me so mad," Pyrrha finally confessed to her. Meg gave a dry laugh.

"Yeah, well it couldn't be farther from the truth. I've made so many mistakes and bad decisions that I can't even recount all of them. Sometimes I'm still surprised to find that Herc actually wants to be with me, that he sees something in me which he values so highly. I don't feel like I deserve him because of all I've done," Meg honestly told her. As Pyrrha remained silent, Meg sighed.

"Look, I know I've been gone for a long time and things have changed, but I'd be happier than you could ever know if you'd give a chance to get to know you again," Meg then timidly looked at her sister.

Pyrrha remained silent for a moment, then finally sighing as well as she turned her attention to her sister.

"Fine, but the next time we talk, can we please about something on more cheerful note than the sad sob-story of your life?" Pyrrha jabbed at her and telling from a smallest hint of smirk on her face, she was teasing her older sister.

"I'm pouring my heart out and you call it a sob-story! Fine, fine, we'll talk about whatever you want to talk about, then," Meg jested, raising her hands in defeat.

For a moment, they remained silent. Then Pyrrha rested her head cautiously to Meg's shoulder. Meg was almost touched to tears by this simple gesture.

"I've missed you," Pyrrha quietly whispered.

"I've missed you too, more than you could ever know," Meg told her, her voice restrained because of her emotions running wild.

She rested her own head against her sister's: she knew that there was still a lot to mend between the two of them, but at least this was a beginning.

* * *

-A/N: So I'll have to admit, I really struggled with the idea do I want to use song lyrics as a part of this story or do they affect the overall flow of the story? But I decided as musical numbers were quite prominent in both the movie and the tv show, that I might use them occasionally. What do you think? And yes, the song I referred to in this chapter was 'Meadowlark' performed by the lovely Susan Egan, I've always pictured that song as something Meg might perform at her father's palace.

On the other note, I haven't given my stories as much time and attention lately as I would have liked and this is not because I'm getting bored or planning to stop writing. I'm simply feeling really, really exhausted and if I won't be updating quite as regularly as before, I promise I'll update at some point.

Review shout-outs:

Sakura: I'm happy to hear that you're still enjoying this, the next chapter is now up!

Maya: The newest chapter is now up, you're welcome!

Guest: Thank you, I've always thought that Meg and Cass would make great friends, I'm happy to hear that you agree!

Nutmeg: Thank you, have some more!


	14. Of Scheming and Taking Action

**Of Scheming and Taking Action**

 _"Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential."_

\- Winston Churchill

* * *

Meg and Hercules were finally making their way back to his villa. They were in no hurry and Pegasus wasn't rushing either, which Meg was truly thankful for. The night was only starting to set in. It was so tranquil, peaceful even and the city-state of Thebes was sight to behold at this time of day.

Or maybe Meg's own mindset was a lot calmer than it had been before. Even if there had been some bumps on the road, the overall visit had gone better than Meg had originally anticipated. And her relationship with her youngest sister was finally starting to mend, much thank to her beloved.

"Thank you," Meg leaned towards her fiancé, pressing herself against his back.

"For what?" Hercules glanced back at her, a tender smile on his lips.

"For talking to my sister and helping to patch things up with her. I wasn't sure if that was even possible anymore," Meg confessed, feeling relieved to know that not all between Pyrrha and her had been lost.

"You don't have to thank me for that. She just wanted to be heard and to learn that her feelings matter too. Besides, I always knew that she would come around at some point. She's your sister after all," he explained, relishing the feeling of her so close to him.

"Well, there's the difference. Between the two of us, you are the optimist and I am not, Wonderboy," Meg quipped back.

"Being an optimist does pay of sometimes, doesn't it?" Hercules reminded her gently.

"Okay, I'll admit, I have to give you that," Meg agreed, smiling playfully.

"But thanks anyway, I appreciate it anyway," Meg repeated, wanting to let him know how much exactly she valued his support.

"Of course, you know I would do anything for you," he replied affectionately. And yes, Meg did know that he would truly do anything for her. Literally.

"Likewise, Wonderboy. Likewise," Meg told him honestly.

* * *

Hades had been busy with his plans and for once, his minions had succeeded in their mission. They had actually brought the mortal Hades had wished to meet to the Underworld. He was almost impressed with them (put not quite).

"So Barak, was it? I heard you, Barak, have quite the resume, hmph?" Hades flattered the mortal in question, giving him his take of a friendly smile.

"Yeah, well, if doing petty crimes and scamming people is what you would call something such as that, then sure," Barak shrugged off, not affected by his pleasantries.

The mortal had a dark, dirty hair hanging to his shoulders: his outlook was rather grimy as well, tattered clothes covering his large frame. The now dirt-covered tunic and the breeches suggested that he had been staying at Scythia for some time. Dark stubble was covering his jaw, old scars visible here and there. The guy had pretty much the appearance of petty criminal written all over him.

"Well, we could change that, now could we?" Hades smirked at him.

"What do you mean?" the man asked in a reserved manner.

"Me and my associate are planning of re-arranging certain cosmic rules. And if you would help us, we would be happy to pay it off to you. You wouldn't only be paid in drahkmas, you would gain power as well," Hades smirked when he noticed how the man straightened his posture, now intently listening. Good, the man had finally swallowed the bait.

"Okay, I'm listening. Go on," the man tried to appear calm and collected: Hades knew better than that.

"So, my associate has followers in Thebes. They already know partly of her plans: you're job is to find Zenia, their leader and convince her that you are there to help them. Then you simply lead them when the time comes. You see, this Zenia is no fighter, they need someone who has some experience on that part," Hades vaguely explained and the man narrowed his eyes.

"When the time comes? What does that mean?" The man asked, forcing him to elaborate.

"Weeell, the time of the attack, obviously. So, we're attacking Thebes: one army from the outside and another party from the inside. The party from the inside would be the one you're leading: a party of Cybele's followers," Hades explained, hoping the mortal would finally accept the deal.

"Why would I find this Zenia person and lead her party and not your followers, for example?" Barak asked and Hades fought the urge to sigh: did all mortals ask this many questions?

"Well, I ain't exactly the _Mister Popularity_ among the mortals. Go and figure," Hades tried to brush it off, but the mortal wouldn't let it go.

"Lord of the Dead and not popular with the mortals? I wondered why?" The annoying mortal smirked at him and Hades felt his temper shortening, quickly. Why were all these petty mortals questioning his position lately?

"Hah, very funny, that is. So, are you in or are you out?" Hades was now basically gritting his teeth together as not to lose his calm.

"Well. I guess I'm in, then. I'm not a follower of Cybele myself, so how do I make those believers follow me?" Barak finally agreed and Hades let out an inner sigh of relief: finally they were getting somewhere. He snapped his fingers and a golden medallion appeared to Barak's hand to much to the man's surprise.

"Take that. The believers of Cybele will follow you, when you show them that symbol," Hades assured him.

"Neat. Thanks, I guess," Barak accepted the explanation, putting the medallion to the pocket of his tunic.

"So, my payment?" Barak stretched out his hand before Hades who was once again on a verge of a tantrum.

"You get your share after the attack," Hades replied his fake smile basically glued on his face now.

"I'm not working for free, you know. I do request something in advance in order to follow this plan,"

"You mortals are always so delirious with your money. Fine, have some drahkmas. Just make sure you follow my instructions to the tee, okay?" Hades grumbles as a poach of coins appeared on his hand.

"Neat. I will," Barak agreed weighing the bag in his hands as his mind was already lingering on his favorite tavern's wine and girls.

"We'll be in touch with you, so to speak," Hades smiled maliciously to the man.

Finally, the next phase of their plan (of _his_ plan) was initiated.

* * *

Cassandra had hoped to finish up some work related things while Meg and Hercules were at the palace. There were some divination scrolls before her that her customer had requested and such things, but there was no such luck. Icarus too had finally abandoned his original plan of constantly pestering her, as she had pointed out his place with few well placed verbal jabs.

So, the conditions had been mostly on her side when she had spread her scrolls out, ready to bury herself in her work for the time being. But something was amiss, she could feel it even before it hit her: the almost tingly sensation of pain on her temples, first almost unnoticeable, but getting stronger by each passing moment. The headache was followed by a sense of a nausea, rendering her into inability of doing anything really. So by the symptoms she already knew what was coming even before it happened.

Hercules and Meg had returned to their home only to find Cassandra, hunched on the couch as she felt impending vision approach. Her headaches were never good, usually they foreshadowed her visions of doom and suffering.

"Hey, something wrong?" Meg approached her, with a concerned look on her face.

"Uh-oh, Cassiesweet is in one of her moods," Icarus had entered the room as well, having a concerned look on his face as he studied Cassandra, who had doubled over in pain. Suddenly she sat rigidly up, a glossy, distant look on her face.

"She's having one of her visions," Hercules explained to her beloved.

"Beware, the Army of the Undead is approaching Thebes, the ancient mother and the traitorous brother are paving its path. If Thebes falls, all of the Hellenic world will follow eventually. Barak holds the symbol and the believers will follow him," Cassandra announced with a voice void of emotions as the distant look in her eyes remained.

The she snapped out of it, her eyes returning back to normal and groaning as she placed her hands to her forhead.

Meg quickly went to fetch some water and offered it to Cassandra, who quickly gulped it down.

For a moment, all of them remained silent.

"Okay, that was… Ominous," Meg huffed out, crossing her hands on her chest.

"An ancient mother and a traitorous brother? What does that exactly mean?" Hercules furrowed his brows.

"Beats me. Aren't mothers supposed to be loving and caring, not leading deadly armies?" Icarus deliberated.

"I have a pretty educated guess on how the traitor might be, considering it's an army of dead," Meg pointed out, irritation obviously showing on her face.

"Hades," Hercules, Icarus and Cassandra all spoke aloud at the same time.

"Yep. Ummm, so while you were away Herc, he paid me another visit," Meg sheepishly confessed, looking a bit uneasy.

"What? Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened?" Hercules pulled her closer to him as he bombarded her with questions.

"Easy there, tiger. I'm okay, he didn't really want anything, it was more weird than foreboding. But before leaving, he told me: "Don't say I didn't warn you." And I was left thinking what he might have meant with that. Could it have been this?" Meg pondered aloud.

"That sounds pretty much like it," Cassandra agreed. Hercules did say anything, but him cracking his knuckles was betraying his thoughts. Meg wanted to scoff, but at the same time, she was kind of moved that someone was constantly as concerned with her well-being as Hercules.

"But my father put all the Gods under this cosmic curfew, Hades shouldn't be doing this in the first place!" Hercules objected and Meg wasn't sure if she was annoyed or a little humored by the naivety of her beloved.

"We're talking about Hades here: does he seem like a guy who likes to play along the rules? The guy lives to defy orders given by your dad!" Meg shot him a meaningful look.

"You've got a point there, sister," Icarus nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess so," Hercules reluctantly agreed.

"The question remaining is who has he teamed up with this time? Who is this ancient mother? And who is this Barak, who holds the symbol? And who will follow him?" Meg pondered.

"Well, I have unfortunately crossed ways with Barak for few times. He's a petty criminal, always causing some sort of trouble. He does have a deep fondness for both women and drinking," Hercules drily noted.

"You don't happen to have an educated guess concerning his whereabouts?" Meg then asked and he nodded.

"I have an educated guess, as you said: he has a tavern, where he likes to hang out,"

"Okay, let's go then," Meg concluded, already moving towards the entrance of the villa.

"You mean like right now? Isn't it starting to get late?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've have been under the impression that this night of the time is actually the most common time to conduct some seedy plans?" Meg pointed out, arching a questioning eyebrow at her beloved

"Once again, sister's got a point," Icarus agreed.

"That does sound like a decent start," Cassandra pointed out and Icarus nodded his head eagerly.

"Okay, maybe you guys have a point, let's check it out then," Hercules finally gave in.

* * *

-A/N: Hey guys, I wanted to wish you happy Valentine's Day by releasing a new chapter! I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied with this chapter, but hopefully it will do.

I've still been buried with work and I've also had some trouble sleeping, so I'm feeling completely drained at the moment. And yeah, my muses have been MIA lately, but I do try my best to keep updating once a month. I hate to complain, but I just want you to understand if there is any delay between the updates, it's mostly because of my situation. So yeah.

Thanks any ways for reading and here's the usual shout-out to reviewers:

\- Disneylover12: Thank you for your kind words, they really touched me. So thank you once again, reviews like this keep me going. I'm glad you enjoy to the story so far!


	15. Of Meg Taking the Lead

**Of Meg Taking the Lead**

 _"All the odds are in my favor  
Something's bound to begin."_

 _\- Maybe This Time_ by Susan Egan

* * *

They had found their way to a seedy tavern at the town of Thebes: it was the kind of place where _hetairas_ would entertain their male quests late into the night and until the next sunlight.

"So, you know who this Barak is?" Cassandra asked, eyeing her surroundings with suspicion.

"Oh, that's him. Right in front of the podium. Let's go and get… Erm, whatever he has in his possession," Hercules told firmly, already starting to make his way to that direction.

"Hold your horses, Wonderboy. What exactly are you doing?" Meg held her hand out on his chest to stop him from galloping right at the guy.

"Umm, I'm gonna make him talk?" Hercules sheepishly replied.

"Uh-huh. Like that's gonna work? He doesn't look like the talkative type," Meg nodded slightly back to the direction of the rough looking thug. Hercules had to agree with her logic there.

"I know it's not your cup of ambrosia, Herc, but I would say subtlety would do the trick," Cassandra agreed.

"But… What should do we do then?" Hercules was taken aback by this turn of events.

"Hmm. I might have a plan. I'm looking for some type of symbol, religious or otherwise, right?" Meg made sure, looking at Cassandra.

"That would be my first guess," Cassandra shrugged.

"Right. Just… Be ready to leave quickly, okay?" Meg told them before she breathed in, obviously bracing herself before she hurried to the offstage, covered with dusty velvet curtains.

"She's a gal with a plan," Icarus happily pointed out as the three of them were left standing there, confusedly watching after quickly retrieving Meg.

* * *

When Meg reached the offstage, she quickly scanned her surroundings. She found a pile of discarded clothing which the _hetairas_ used for their performances. She rummages through them, picking up a red dress: it was laced from the back so she was pretty sure she could make it work. Quickly she changed her clothes and pulled her hair free. As she judged her looks, she came to the conclusion it would do.

Then she approached the girl, waiting for her turn to perform next.

"Take five, doll. Barkeep's orders," Meg told her. For a moment the other girl looked like she would disagree, but after giving Meg a suspicious look she thought again, shrugged her shoulders and went away.

Then Meg quickly gave her instructions to the musicians playing the flute, lyre and _githara_ before stepping to the other side of the veil and onto the stage. Her father had always enjoyed listening to music and she had been requested to perform at the royal palace many times when she was growing up. This was, however, a _quite_ different performance.

The crowd went silent when she stepped onto the podium and she started singing, the band quickly following after her suit.

 _"Maybe this time, I'll be lucky  
Maybe this time, He'll stay  
Maybe this time  
For the first time  
Love won't hurry away,"_ Meg sang with a sultry voice, moving her seductively to the music.

"Is that…?" Icarus asked, his jaw dropping to the ground.

"Meg, yeah," Hercules told him, awestruck himself, inspecting the quick change of appeareance his girlfriend had experienced: she for a red dress, showing quite a bit of her cleavage. Her hair was cascading around her like an auburn waterfall. For all they could know, she appeared like she was born to perform on the stage.

"So she did have a plan after all," Cassandra noted drily.

 _"He will hold me fast  
I'll be home at last  
_ _Everybody loves a winner  
So nobody loves me,"_ Meg sang a bit louder, pulling her own arms around herself as she moved her hips seductively as she got closer to the crowd, consisting mostly of men who were completely enthralled with her performance.

Hercules, Icarus and Cassandra were left watching her performance with their eyebrows almost meeting their hairline.

 _"It's got to happen, happen some time  
Maybe this time I'll win,"_ she sang, picking even more force as she got herself completely immersed with her performance. The men were going crazy, catcalling and whistling at her.

"Herc, how did you exactly land on her?" Icarus asked from his friend, completely taken aback with her show.

"I have no idea," Hercules replied, equally surprised.

 _"All the odds are in my favor  
Something's bound to begin,"_ Meg's voice was at its strongest now as she was writhing on the edge of the podium while stretching her long limbs seductively, facing closely the first row of her captured audience. The catcalls and wolf-whistles got even louder now.

"Herc, Icarus, please stop doing that, I need no more public humiliations," Cassandra pressed her hands to her temples, grimacing at her two friends who were both shocked and very much captivated by Meg's performance at the same time.

 _"It's got to happen, happen some time  
Maybe this time,  
Maybe this time, I'll win,"_ Meg sang more quietly now, reaching towards the man on the front row who conveniently happened to be Barak, touching him lightly on his chest while winking at him and giving him a seductive smile. The man smiled wolfishly back at her, reaching for her.

Before she could react in anyway, he had her in her arms and he lifted her into his lap. The man around them cheered and encouraged Barak, who was already eating Meg with their eyes.

For a passing moment, Meg looked uncomfortable, but she quickly adapted to the situation, smiling sweetly at the man.

Hercules felt unfamiliar tightness in his chest and he realized, that he was actually feeling jealous.

"Calm down, loverboy, she's only acting," Cassandra whispered at him, obviously noticing his discomfort.

"Quite a performance, at that," Icarus was still shaking his head.

"I hope she doesn't have to keep this up for long," Hercules replied when he finally found his voice again.

Back by the podium, Meg was still accompanied by Barak.

"I haven't seen you before here. Who are you, love?" Barak asked from her, his eyes dark with desire.

"That's because I'm new here. I'm Galathea," Meg smiled back at him as she felt him caressing her thigh.

"Would you care to join me for a drink?" Barak asked of her, offering her a goblet of wine.

"Love to," Meg flashed him a fake smile, taking the goblet from him and pretending to take a sip before she placed it back to the table.

While she was sitting on his lap, feeling his damp hands all over her, she was uncomfortably aware of Hercules, Icarus and Cassandra watching at their every move. Luckily the man was so enthralled with her, he didn't notice anything.

Meg pretended to flirt with him and while doing that, she was able to snatch the object she was going for from his pocket: thanks to time she spent working for Hades, she had become pretty skilled in those kind of practices.

"I have to visit the backstage. You know, make sure that the next girl is ready for her performance," Meg lightly lied as she stood up, relieved to be free from the man's grip.

"I'm sure whoever comes after you, won't live up to your performance," Barak replied, still eyeing at her body hungrily.

"Hmm, you're too kind. I'll be back in a jiffy," Meg smiled briefly back at him as she started walking away. Then she caught Cassandra's eye, nodding her head ever so slightly towards the door before heading to offstage.

"Meg's got it. Let's go," Cassandra told her companions and together they head outside. They went to the stable, fetching Pegasus and anxiously hovering near the backdoor. After few moments, Meg came outside in her old chiton, still pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

"So you got it?" Cassandra anxiously made sure and Meg nodded.

"I've got it. Ugh, hopefully I've never got to do that again," Meg grimaced.

"You were natural!" Icarus offered and Meg laughed it off.

"Let's get going, before my previous companion decides to come looking for me," Meg replied, all four of them ready to leave.

* * *

-A/N: Yes, I'm very much aware what real _hetairas_ were like and in my story, they will me more like certain type of hostesses. And I also know Greek taverns weren't cabarets like this one, but as Disney's Hercules quite freely used to interpret the Greek culture and system, I'm following the same path here. And yeah, had to use the version "Maybe This Time", performed by Susan Egan for this story; sorry, but not sorry!

Next week I'll be off for a small vacation and after that, I'll be super busy for my work for the rest of the Spring. But I'll try my best with regular updates! Hope your having amazing Spring so far!

Reviewer shout-outs: Disneylover12: Thank you for your constant support, hopefully my story will live up to your expectations!

Thank you BadJimmie, so happy to hear that! Hope you'll continue reading and enjoying my story!


	16. Of Divine Retribution

**Of Divine Retribution and Facing Personal Faults**

 _"Facing difficulties are inevitable. Learning from them is optional."_

\- John C. Maxwell

* * *

When the four friends returned back to the villa, all of them was anxious to see what exactly Meg had been able to grab from Barak.

With almost trembling fingers Meg pulled the object from her pocket: it was a golden medallion, depicting a lion with a turret-crown. Meg frowned, for she had never seen such symbol before. Had they went through all this trouble only to find a dead end?

"I don't know this symbol. I suppose none of you recognize this either?" Meg growled with annoyance.

"No," Hercules agreed while Icarus was ferociously shaking his head beside his friend.

"Hold that thought," Cassandra quipped back while wrecking her brain.

Cassandra felt something tingling in her mind, a sense of recognition she couldn't quite grasp. It was driving her insane. She had seen that symbol somewhere before, _but where_?

Then it hit her: her scroll, the one which had the symbols of the Old Gods in it! She dived for her sack, rummaging through it until she found the right scroll. The she pulled it open, quickly scanning through it with her eyes.

Her friends had been keeping a close eye to her antics, waiting for a miracle to happen. And Cassandra was not the one to disappoint them.

"Found it!" She then announced with victorious glee as she found what she was looking for.

"Look, there it is," Cassandra showed the scroll to her friends, pointing to the right symbol.

"Cybele?" Hercules read out loud slowly. Meg felt pieces connecting inside her brains immediately.

"Cybele! That's the Goddess my father was talking about, back on that dinner!" Meg reminded Hercules and his face lit up with recognition.

"Oh! Your father DID talk about her. Or more like about her followers," Hercules agreed.

"So what about them?" Cassandra piped in.

"Well, he said her followers have been rallying up, talking about some divine retribution coming for Greeks," Meg recalled.

"That certainly does fit the picture," Cassandra agreed with a grim look on her face.

"So what level of retribution are we talking about here?" Icarus asked, looking at the circle of friends before him.

"If it's divine retribution, it has kinda ominous ring to it," Meg pointed out.

"So we're talking about big-time payback time, not just few locus and a little rain?" Icarus made sure.

"Probably not," Meg agreed, folding her arms around her torso. Icarus grimaced.

"I've heard certain… Stuff concerning the cult of Cybele. Isn't she the one who asks her male followers to be castrated?" Cassandra recalled aloud, making both Hercules and Icarus wince from sympathy.

"Well, that doesn't sound like a pleasant Goddess. How have we crossed her in any way?" Meg drily noted.

"Well, nowadays she's more of an Eastern Goddess. My guess would be, that she's still holding a grudge against what Greeks did to Troy," Cassandra wondered aloud.

"Yeah, well, Greeks did leave the place completely leveled," Meg winced at the revelation.

"But that was years ago, we didn't have anything to do with that, why would she be mad at us?" Hercules pointed out.

"They are Gods; they have all the eternity to hold grudges!" Icarus spread out his hands.

"And we are still Greeks, so I have to agree with Icarus in this one: when Gods decide to punish mortals, it often has very little to do who actually is guilty. All getting hurt in the process are collateral damage in cosmic scales," Cassandra agreed.

"So probably the one behind all of this seems to be Cybele. Why is she working with Hades, then?" Hercules pondered out loud.

"Well, it isn't a secret that Hades has a bone to pick with your father and now with you as well. She probably heard about it and decided to seek help from certain deity residing in Underworld. My guess would be that Hades persuaded her to start the attack from Thebes. In her plan, Thebes would be only collateral damage on her plans to make Greece pay," Meg sighed.

"That's grimly put, but accurate, though," Cassandra agreed.

"There is probably even more to it why Cybele decided to team up with Hades. Hades is after all the God of the Underworld as well. That is probably also one of the reasons why Cybele decided to seek aid from Hades, if willing he can offer Cybele an army of her fallen soldiers. If they are truly raising an army of undead Trojan soldiers, that means Hector and all other slain Trojan soldiers will be resurrected as well," Hercules pondered aloud.

"Well, that DOES sounds ominous," Meg muttered, shaking her head.

"Cybele is a Goddess, can't your daddy Zeus and other Gods talk some sense into her?" Icarus then asked from Hercules.

"She's one of the Old Gods, she has been around much longer than the Olympian Gods. So she's not under my father's command. And I think she wouldn't take it well, if my father or any other God would try to point her to her own place," Hercules sighed.

"So much for that card," Meg sardonically pointed out.

"Okay. So what's Barak's part in all this?" Icarus asked, trying to piece all the information together.

"Hmmm. Well, Creon talked about the followers of Cybele rising up. If they would take a part in the fight, they would need someone to lead them, right?" Hercules wondered aloud, collecting the pieces of information he had collected during his training with Phil.

"Yeah, they're more like believers and followers of a cult, not warriors," Meg agreed.

"So Barak's job was to lead the followers of Cybele? So even believers will fight, when it comes to that," Cassandra commented drily.

"It doesn't necessarily come to that. Remember what you foretold us? Wasn't the symbol supposed to make them follow Barak?" Hercules pointed out, a hopeful look on his face.

"Yeah. You're right. So now that we have the symbol, they won't follow him?" Meg agreed, her face lighting up as well.

"We can certainly hope so, but we can't rely on that. So, following their trail, the attack was supposed to start from the inside as well as from the outside the city-state of Thebes. From the inside by the followers of Cybele and from the outside, by the army of the Dead," Hercules concluded.

"We need to inform my father, he needs know all this!" Meg felt the need to act, do at leas something to prevent all this.

"We'll do that, first thing tomorrow. But it's already getting late and we should all get some rest," Hercules pointed out and Cassandra nodded in agreement.

"So now we only have an army of Dead to beat. That should be a piece of cake!" Icarus optimistically announced, smiling from one ear to another. His three friends winced and looked at each other.

"Yeah. Hate to burst your bubble buddy, but I'm not sure if it's gonna be that easy," Hercules offered his friend an uneasy smile and Icarus' face fell as well.

All four of them were left wondering how did one exactly fight such army.

* * *

Later that evening, Meg had already changed into her light nightgown and she was sitting at their bed, brushing her hair when Hercules came to the room as well. She had taken a long bath, soaking the experience of those roaming hands of Barak away.

"Hey," Meg told him, glancing at him.

"Hey," he replied, placing a quick kiss on her cheek and sitting down next to her.

"Meg, why didn't you told me about Hades? That you saw him while I was gone?" Hercules asked with a sigh, finally alone with his beloved.

Meg winced uneasily. She had already forgotten about that part, so much had happen during the night.

"Oh, _that_. Yeah, ummm. I'm sorry, Herc. I really am. I didn't want to upset you or worry you. Being honest is obviously not one of my fortes and I really need to work on that part," Meg felt the shame burning her cheeks as she lowered her gaze.

"I'm no mad at you. I just wish you would share these things with me willingly," Hercules replied and somehow it only made Meg feel worse. He being disappointed felt because of her her much worse than him being mad at her.

"I'm sorry. It's not about you, it's like this instinctive thing for me. But I'll work on that," Meg solemnly promised and he rewarded her with a small smile.

"So, how are you feeling?" Meg asked at him, glancing at him worriedly.

"Ummm, you don't have to worry about me. You performed really well tonight. Like really well," Hercules told her honestly, still a little taken aback from what he had witnessed.

"Thanks. I'm sorry if I made you jealous," Meg shot him a side-way glance and Hercules blushed profoundly.

"I-, well, you did it for the right reasons," he stammered back at her.

"Yeah, I guess so. But coming back to your comment, that's basically what I have been doing my whole life. Performing, pretending to be what men had wanted me to be. And not just with Hades, even before I had to work for him and do his dirty work, my father basically exhibited me in his parties like I was just some object, not even a person," Meg replied with a sigh.

Suddenly it all made sense to Hercules. For all her life, men had only seen Meg's beauty, not even interested to get to know her personality. Which was sad considering she had the most biting wit, the kindest heart and the bravest soul Hercules had ever encountered. She was just so much more than just her looks.

"I'm sorry, that must have been hard," Hercules replied softly, placing his hand gently on her thigh.

"Well, it wasn't ideal, that's for sure. Just so you know, I might be putting up a performance when required, but you're the only man that actually gets an intimate contact with me," Meg circled her arms around his neck as she smiled at him seductively.

"I can live with that," Hercules replied back at her, placing his arms on her waist before pulling her in for a kiss.

* * *

-A/N: So, here we are with the next chapter and the plot thickens (at least I hope so). There are many new followers, which I'm grateful for. I wouldn't honestly have the motivation to update this fic quite as often without you guys, so thank you from the bottom of my heart!

So remember last time when I talked about going for a vacation and all that? Well, my vacation was cancelled due to certain circumstances taking place all over the world. In fact, I've stayed in a quarantine in my house for the last month. Oh what times we are living. Please stay safe and healthy, dear readers!

Reviewer shout-outs:

\- Bad Jimmy: I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying this! Well, I think _hetairas_ were most often described as entertainers for men: they played and danced for them and kept them some company. Somewhere they were actually compared to Japanese _Geishas_ , but I'm not sure if that is quite correct.

\- Disneylove12: Yes, I know: jealous Herc is way too funny!

\- Sol99: Glad you like it!


	17. Of Regrets and Heated Discussions

**Of Regrets and Heated Discussions**

 _"As I am a lofty princess, so my father is_

 _A lofty king, accomplished in all kingly subtilties,_

 _Holding in his strong right hand world-kingdoms' balances._

 _He has quarrelled with his neighbors, he has scourged his foes;_

 _Vassal counts and princes follow where his pennon goes,_

 _Long-descended valiant lords whom the vulture knows,_

 _On whose track the vulture swoops, when they ride in state_

 _To break the strength of armies and topple down the great:_

 _Each of these my courteous servant, none of these my mate._

 _My father counting up his strength sets down with equal pen_

 _So many head of cattle, head of horses, head of men;_

 _These for slaughter, these for labor, with the how and when._

 _Once it came into my heart and whelmed me like a flood,_

 _That these too are men and women, human flesh and blood;_

 _Men with hearts and men with souls, though trodden down like mud."_

 _\- A Royal Princess_ by Christina Rossetti

* * *

The following morning, Barak woke up to find himself having the hangover of the century.

The night before was only a vague memory, a blurry trail of uncertain events. But one thing he did remember was the auburn-haired beauty in his embrace. At one point, he had lost the beauty in question during his hazy night and that was what he did regret.

Well, let's make it the second thing he was starting to regret. As he went through the pockets of his tunic, he noticed that the religious symbol he had gotten from Hades had also gone missing.

"Well, that's just great," Barak muttered to himself, rubbing his face with his hands. Making the God of Death angry at himself was certainly a memorable start for his day.

Well, there wasn't much he could do.

"Hades, summoning Hades!" he bellowed and with a poof, the God in question appeared before him.

"Oy, you reek SO BAD that even I am starting to get a hangover," annoyed God complained, making a face.

"Well, sorry about that, but my reasons are important. The symbol you gave me is missing," Barak replied, remaining admiringly cool and collected.

"I went to seek your help because of the endless stream of screw ups of my own minions. This does not raise my trust concerning your abilities," Hades gritted his teeth together, ready to lose his temper.

"Yeah, I get it, I'm sorry. Just let me try once more?" Barak offered calmly.

"You know, I do not have an endless supply of religious memorabilia. Especially of others deities besides _moí_. Just don't go losing this one, okay?" Hades grumbled as another symbol appeared to his hand and he handed it over to Barak.

"Oh, I didn't lose it. I'm pretty sure this chick took it from me," Barak corrected and this piece of information peaked Hades' interest.

"What chick?" Hades asked as he turned to look at the man.

"I met her at the tavern. Long auburn hair, violet eyes, a body curved like an amphora…" Barak recollected his memories, a small smile appearing at his lips as he thought of her.

"Oh, that's just _great_. That's Meg. Oh my sweet little Nutmeg, always getting involved. And not alone, would be my best guess," Hades would recognize that description anywhere.

"You know her?" Barak seemed only mildly surprised.

"Better than you would ever guess. Well, this is exactly what we needed. So Meg and Wonderboy are on our tail," Hades groaned, rubbing his temples. Then again, this was an useful piece of information: now he at least knew that they were following his tracks.

"Well, no matter: I can handle this. Just another bump on the road. Just make sure you do keep your end of this bargain. Go find Zenia, before you lose that thing as well," Hades reminded the mortal before he disappeared.

He needed to contemplate on this newest turn of the events. He could use this to his advantage, he was sure of it.

He just needed to figure out how.

* * *

That same morning Meg and Hercules had headed over to the palace, to talk to Meg's father about the information they had gathered during the previous night. Creon however was not inclined to believe what they were telling him. And Meg was not about to let the matter go.

"You do understand how fantastical this all sounds, don't you, Megara dear? And you gathered this from a seer, you say? You know how I feel about them after that affair Tiresias," Creon finally sighed out heavily, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

"Cassandra is a very good friend of Hercules, I do trust her word. And if you listened to what we told you, we have multiple sources of information!" Meg pointed out heatedly. Hercules placed a his hand to her shoulder, trying his best to calm her down.

"My dear, most of what you told me sounded much like tall tales and some childish fabrication," Creon simply brushed it off, sharing a meaningful look of disbelief with his advisors.

"And even if what you say is true, then those cultists of Cybele won't probably cause any trouble. You said this man you met was supposed to be their leader, but now they won't most likely follow him?" the king carried on.

"Oh yeah, maybe not them, but we have still the army of Dead coming for us!" Meg crossed her arms at her chest, giving her father a jaded look.

"We'll stay inside the palace and we'll stay safe," the king head-strongly told, ignoring the facts.

"Then the people inside the palace will be saved, but what about the common people in the city?" Meg pointed out.

"In war, there are always casualties," the king avoided her question.

"Your Highness, these are no ordinary soldiers, they are already dead. This means they can't be slowed down or even killed. The death rates will be sky-rocketing," Hercules calmly pointed out.

"I'll rule over what will be left of my people," the king stubbornly told.

"Then you'll be ruling over a graveyard! Our city-state will fall first and then all the other cities will follow. The whole Hellenic world might collapse because of this and you simply suggest that we just stay inside and wait it all to pass? That is madness!" Meg furiously demanded an answer form her father.

During their talk, Creon's temper had been growing shorter by each passing moment. During her absence, he had forgotten what a handful his eldest daughter could prove to be at times. After she kept pushing and questioning his authority, king Creon was at the moment so mad that he was fuming after his daughter had been disrespecting his opinions the whole afternoon.

"I am the king and you do as I say! You dare to talk against your king and your own father?" He all but yelled at Meg.

"I will continue to do so, if you continue making irrational decisions!" Meg yelled back at him. Hercules noticed the anxious looks exchanged between the royal advisors: all in the room could see that this was heading for a disaster.

"I am the king, my decisions are for the better of our people!" Creon moved closer to his daughter.

"That doesn't mean your decisions are correct! Most of our people will end up dead if we see through your plan!" Meg placed her hands on her hips.

Creon could feel his temper boiling. How could this insolent little girl tell him how to rule over his own city-state after abandoning all of them for years? What did she know of hard decisions and gnawing guilt that came afterwards?

Before he could reflect on his actions, Creon rose his hand as if to hit his daughter, but before he could do that, he felt a hard grip on his hand.

Hercules had moved closer and as he saw what Creon was about to do, he stepped in, taking a firm grip of his hand.

"Don't. Nobody touches her," he growled at king Creon.

"She's my daughter," king Creon replied, unfazed.

"I don't care. Nobody has the right to harm her, not even you," Hercules replied, unmoved.

Meg sighed out, slightly backing away from her father. This wasn't the first time her father rose his hand against her. But it was something new to have somebody on her side who would stand up for her.

"Fine, what do you propose then, hero?" king Creon snapped at him.

"That we gather an army and send it out against the Dead. We may win more time so the women and the children may escape through the tunnels and head straight to the mountains," Hercules proposed.

"And I suppose you're willing to lead this army?" the king impatiently asked.

"Of course," Hercules solemnly replied.

"So be it," the king barked as he left the room, obviously still fuming mad.

Meg also headed outside, feeling claustrophobic in her childhood home, all the unpleasant memories once again surfacing. She felt as if the walls were closing in on her.

She collapsed to the stone pavement by a fountain, rubbing her temples tiredly, much like her father had done only few moments ago.

She wasn't surprised to notice that Hercules had followed her outside and sat next to her on stone bench.

"Well, that went great. Even better than I imagined," Meg sardonically told him.

"Yeah," Hercules simply agreed.

After a moment of silence, Hercules asked her quietly as he placed his hand gently on her knee: "This wasn't the first time he raised his fist against you?"

"No," Meg quietly breathed out, still looking at the fountain with a forlorn look on her face.

Hercules also sighed. From Meg's reaction, he had suspected as much, but he didn't want to believe it. Who could do such a thing to his own daughter?

"Meg, I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's not your place to apologize for him. But thanks for standing up for me," Meg leaned against him, brushing her fingers against his hand.

"Meg, I'll be on your side. Always. You can count on it," He gently replied, wrapping his hand around her shoulder.

Meg closed her eyes, enjoying the comfort of his touch. It felt so good to know that she wouldn't have to feel as alone as she felt while growing up. She prayed that not even this up-coming war would be able to separate them.

* * *

-A/N: Hello again, here's a new chapter for you! What is Hades up to? And Creon isn't showing his best sides, don't you agree? So there are few kinks I need to figure out with this story, but fingers crossed I'll have more time during the summer to write. And I'm still thinking about new ideas to write down, so let's hope I'll have time to do that!

There's has been quite a lot going on in my life lately. For example, we decided to move to a new, bigger apartment next month, which in itself is great, but I just hate moving. So yeah, lots of things going on. But I promise, I'll try my best to keep up with the updates!

Shout-out to the reviewers:

\- Disneylove12: I'm glad you enjoyed it, I enjoyed writing it as well! Once again, thanks so much for your kind words, they truly warm my heart!

\- Bad Jimmy06: Happy to hear that, and also thanks for reviewing my other fic! Kudos to you!


	18. Of Heart to Hearts

**Of Heart to Hearts**

 _"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."_

 _-_ J.R.R. Tolkien

* * *

"So, how did it go?" Cassandra asked as she heard Meg and Hercules returning, coming back from the palace and meeting Meg's father, her eyes still glued to the scroll she was currently reading.

Instead of getting an answer, she felt as Meg simply plopped herself down beside her on the couch, burying her face to her hands with a groan.

"That well, huh?" Cassandra replied, glancing at the other woman.

"Yeah. My father's a real handful," Meg huffed out

"I can imagine," Cassandra was starting to know the strong-willed woman next to her, so she decided it wasn't probably the best time to point out that Meg most likely shared certain similarities with her father's personality. Starting with the certain amount of stubbornness.

"Yeah, well, king Creon wasn't exactly forthcoming. And the visit itself wasn't exactly, umm, a joyride," Hercules stammered as he searched for the right word, deciding upon seeing Meg's facial expression not to share the ugly details of the visit.

Cassandra only rose her eyebrows, witnessing the wordless exchange between the two. She sensed there was more to the matter, but decided not to push it.

"But we did in the end manage to convince him to defend the city against any attacks from Hades and Cybele," Hercules optimistically offered after a moment of silence.

"Imagine that. Isn't it like a king's duty to defend his city-state?" Cassandra asked snidely.

"One could certainly imagine so. My father didn't seem certain, though," Meg told her with a touch of anger in her voice.

"Well, that's just great," Cassandra shook her head.

"Any luck with those scrolls?" Hercules asked, eyeing the one she was currently reading.

"Not so much. I've been trying to gather some information concerning Cybele and her followers, but so far, this hasn't been all that enlightening,"

"Well, since we're here, let me help you at least," Meg offered, taking another scroll from Cassandra's pile.

"We'll figure this out. Together," Hercules, ever the optimist, smiled at the two women, taking one scroll to his own hands and finding the nearest available seat near the couch. After a moment of tranquil silence, he noticed something amiss.

"So have you seen Icarus?" Hercules looked around, searching for his other best friend.

"He was pestering me earlier on, but after giving him a pair of well chosen words, I haven't seen him. But I bet his around. He always is. I don't need my gift of sight to know that," Cassandra dramatically sighed.

And as if from a cue, they heard a familiar voice:

"Is that my Cassieloo, talking of me? And my best buddy Herciepoo asking of me? And his sweet Meggiemoo as well? All your wishes and prayers have been answered, here's Ick, baby!" A small tornado of unruly black hair emerged to the room as Icarus arrived.

"Not any of my wishes or prayers. Told you so," Cassandra breathed out as she glared at Hercules, who sheepishly smiled back, shrugging his shoulders as an answer.

"Are we doing teamwork? 'Cause I LOVE doing teamwork!" Icarus took in the situation, seeing Cassandra and Meg who read scrolls side by side. Then he happily fitted himself in between the two women, taking a third scroll from the pile.

"Ooh, nice! This is about blood and sacrifices, gnarly!" Icarus announced with evident excitement on his voice.

"We are all about to witness a blood sacrifice, if you don't SHUT UP, Ick!" Cassandra shot him a meaningful look.

"Ooh, QUIET teamwork! I can be quiet, quiet as a striped field mouses. As my sweetest Cassieloo wishes!" Icarus replied, sounding as happy as ever. Then he continued to read while humming an annoying tune loudly to himself. Cassandra rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything, obviously deciding to settle into the situation.

Meg and Hercules shared a knowing and amused look before he too took another scroll, sitting down on a nearby chair. They could figure this out together, Hercules was certain of it.

* * *

As he had promised to Hades, Barak had headed out to the less nurtured part of the city of Thebes. Some might even describe it as a 'ghetto', but Barak wasn't the type of person to pull out such descriptions, for he had seen worse.

In this part of the town lived the immigrants who did not originate from the Grecian world. The Greeks were suspicious at best when it came to the people outside of their own culture, so while the Greeks stayed among their own kind, the immigrants stuck together. Most of these people were coming from parts of the East and as Barak was finally able to locate Zenia, the leader of the cult of Cybele, he came to the conclusion that she was one such immigrant.

"I hear you're Zenia, I have been looking for you," Barak offered as the took in the middle-aged woman before him.

"And I hear you have been looking for me. Why?" Zenia asked with a heavy accented. The look she gave him was laced with suspicion.

Barak quickly noted the major details of her appearance: her eyes were heavily lined with kohl, her dark hair mostly covered with a decorative, violet scarf and she was also dressed in an Eastern-styled clothes. She had once been beautiful, very much so, but the years had not treated her too kindly.

"I was sent here. By Cybele," the man simply answered, raising her interest. Well, practically he had been sent by Hades, but he didn't want to bother her with minor details.

"Why would Cybele ask an outsider to seek me out?" She asked, even more suspicious than before.

"Aren't you weary of this, hiding in the scrubs like a scum, being treated like a third-class citizen? Aren't you tired of Greeks scorning at you and your people? Cybele was once the most adored Goddess, and now hardly anyone knows her name? Wouldn't you want to change if the possibility came?" Barak offered her and something flashed in her eyes, an ignited glimmer of danger. The words he had chosen obviously resonated with her.

"What are you suggesting then?" She petulantly asked, crossing her arms before her.

"The time is coming. For her retribution. She wants me to help you, leading her followers to the battle," Barak revealed. Zenia seemed surprised, but only mildly: obviously she had already partly heard some whispers of this plan, the seed already planted. Fertile soil was always easier to cooperate with.

"Why would you want to help? Why should I believe you?" Zenia was still suspicious.

"I have been given orders to do so. You know how to lead your people, I know how to combat. Together we could join our forces and our best abilities, then we would make tangible threat. Cybele commands me to do so. She's your deity as well, isn't she? Look, I have her symbol in my possession, indicating the divine mission give to me by her," Barak finally took out the symbol, the new one, he had gotten from Hades and held it out to Zenia.

As she saw the symbol he held, Zenia's attitude towards him changed completely.

"Alright, come on in, stranger, and we shall talk," she motioned him to follow her to her small shack of a house.

* * *

After an afternoon heavy on reading, the four friends had found out more about Cybele. Not much, something at least. Which, Hercules pointed out, was better than nothing.

"This is hard, harder than I expected. I thought all Gods were more than happy to provide information concerning their rites to the mortals," Meg grumbled out as she tossed the scroll she had been holding aside.

"Cybele's cult is known for its esotericism and mysticism. Not much is shared with the people they consider outsiders," Cassandra pointed out, picking the scroll up and putting it back to her bag.

"Obviously so," Meg breathed out a heavy sigh, closing her eyes as she slumped back.

"This is a start, at least. Look, why don't we make something to eat? It has been a long day and it's kinda hard to focus on an empty stomach. I could whip something up," Hercules offered, placing a calming hand gently on Meg's shoulder.

"Food does sound great," Meg agreed.

"I can keep company for the lovely ladies while you cook," Icarus offered, wagging his eyebrows suggestively as he looked at Cassandra, who was not able to hide her grimace. Meg too felt tired to her bones and though she normally could laugh at Icarus' antics, this night was not one of those nights.

Hercules seemed to sense the source of their anxiety and ever the hero, came to their rescue.

"Umm, Ick, weren't there that certain dish made of eels you wanted to make for Cassandra? I'm sure she would love to try it," Hercules reminded him, trying his best to avoid Cassandra's dismayed face.

"OH BOY! Herc, my man, I knew I can always count on you! Look at you, a real ladies' man now, aren't you!" Icarus nudged him, before happily skipping his way towards the kitchen.

"Do we even have any eel?" Meg whispered to Hercules, who shook his head.

"We'll visit the market first with Pegasus and the start making the dinner. You get some time for yourselves, okay?" He whispered back, placing a quick kiss on her forehead.

"You're the best. Thanks, Wonderboy," Meg breathed out and he rewarded her with a quick smile, before following his friend and ushering him towards the stables.

The wonderful, untouched silence fell to the room. Both of the women breathed out a coincidental breath of relief.

"Finally," Cassandra muttered aloud and Meg wholeheartedly agreed.

"Icarus has got some… Personality," Meg meekly offered, too tired to find a witty remark and Cassandra scoffed.

"Oh yeah, his got way too many personalities to handle. Even Icarus himself can't handle them," she replied back and Meg weakly laughed back.

"So, you wanna talk about it? The visit to see your father?" Cassandra decided to brush the avoided subject.

"Not too much to talk about there. He's just… Controlling. And stubborn. When he makes a decision, his mind can't be changed even when he's proven wrong," Meg explained.

"Is this about defending Thebes?" Cassandra specified.

"About anything. For example, his adamant that he should decide who I should marry," Meg revealed and Cassandra's eyebrows almost met her hairline.

"He doesn't want you to marry Herc? _Really_? I mean, _has he met him_?" Cassandra shook her head, not believing what she was hearing.

"Yeah. _He has_. He has this obsession that he should marry me off to some trustworthy ally of his and he simply can't change his mind on that," Meg looked tiredly back at her.

"I can see how that would be an issue," Cassandra agreed.

"Today, we both just finally lost our cool. And I pushed him to the point where he almost, you know, tried to hit me. Probably would have, if Herc wasn't there," Meg finally revealed.

"There's no reason for doing something like that. Ever. I despise men who use violence as a way to control women," Cassandra muttered as she squeezed the edge of the couch, her knuckles turning white.'

"I know. I do too. I would love to say it was the first time, but after my mother died, my father was at a dark place and he acted according to it," Meg quietly spoke out, trying her best not to get lost in her past.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Now I know why Herc seemed on edge when you came back, he can't tolerate that kind of stuff either," Cassandra had finally pieces the puzzle in her mind together.

"I know he can't," Meg agreed, a gentle smile creeping to her lips as she thought of her beloved and how different he was from her own father. She had certainly made better choices lately in her life, only if she wouldn't now screw her things up.

She shook her head with a groan.

"Tired?" Cassandra asked, eyeing her with even more sympathy than before.

"It's been a long day, you mind if I go to lay down for a bit?" Meg made sure as she got up.

"Knock yourself out. Literally," Cassandra picked another scroll, starting to skim through.

Meg had started to head out of the room, but decided otherwise, turning back to the other woman.

"Thanks for listening. It's… Hard. To talk about these things," Meg breathed out, seeking out the eyes of the other woman.

"Those are hard things to deal with. For anyone. Thanks for trusting me enough," Cassandra answered sincerely. Meg smiled back at her, a sincere smile lightning her face up.

"Okay, the moment's gone. Go get some rest before those two loud goofs are back, which will make sleeping impossible," Cassandra brushed her off and Meg finally headed out to get some rest.

Cassandra was finally left alone with her thoughts and she came to a conclusion.

Although she had been hesitant with Meg at first, knowing her history with Hades (on the other hand, without Herc's intervention, _she_ might be sharing a similar fate), but as she had got to know her, she understood her better. And she could see why Herc was so smitten with her. And Meg shared those feelings, which Cassandra was happy for.

Yes, she had reached the conclusion that she actually liked Meg, which slightly surprised her, but made her glad as well. She truly seemed like a good person. Herc was a lucky man. Well, they both were.

* * *

-A/N: Whew, and the newest chapter is out. The last part with the conversation between Cassandra and Meg was written this evening, I'm very sorry if it feels too rushed. I just felt that I really see two of them becoming friends, so I wanted to give them some bonding time.

I have to confess that I'm super tired at the moment. Next week, we'll be moving out to our new apartment and as you can probably imagine, all the mayhem concerning that has begun. Also, my godmother passed away yesterday and even though she had been sick for quite some time, we were close, so this has been emotionally tolling for me. (That is also the reason why I chose that certain Tolkien quote to the beginning of this chapter, it has been stuck to my head during these recent days.)

Thank you, I have been getting many new followers, which makes me truly so happy and joyed. And as always, I'm happy to see certain loyal readers always responding, thank you! Feedback is fuel to the creativity. I have few kinks and things I need to figure out concerning the up-coming chapters, but let's hope I'll have some time to write during my holiday!

And to the reviewer shout-outs:

\- Disneylove12: Aww, I'm glad you enjoyed seeing the protective side of Herc! And thanks for understanding and congratulations! As you can see, the next chapter is now up! ;)

\- Sakura: I really happy to hear that you enjoy this that much, thank you! You too take care of yourself in this current situation!


End file.
